Legal Rights & Assistance page of the National Resource Directory

The Legal Rights & Assistance page of the National Resource Directory aggregates links to some law-related resources for the warrior community. While it isn't comprehensive, nothing else is either so it's someplace to start.

In addition, newly developed resources should be sure to request having their link added there, as an easy way to perform outreach. It doesn't help offering a resource if people don't know how to get it!

AFLA - Armed Forces Legal Assistance Web site

The Armed Forces Legal Assistance (AFLA) Web site provides general legal information to the military community. It's a joint project of the several Armed Forces legal assistance offices.

Its resources include:

• Legal Services Locator: This shows you active duty legal activities offering general legal services within the continental United States
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Armed Forces Legal Assistance: This covers topics such as What type of services can a legal assistance office provide? What about confidentiality?, and Who is eligible?
• Legal Assistance Topics: This includes general information on a wide range of legal topics, from Automobiles and Banking to Voting and Wills.

Per the website: "The Armed Forces Judge Advocate Generals' Corps who maintain this site is comprised of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard Judge Advocate Generals' Corps. The Legal Assistance divisions of all of the services maintain this legal assistance site in a joint effort to provide the best information for our men and women of the armed forces and their families. It is an honor and privilege to serve members of the armed forces and your families, helping to protect those who protect us each day.
It is our intention to provide you a general overview of legal assistance topics, information as well as a link to allow you to locate the legal assistance office nearest you to consult with a legal assistance attorney. Legal Assistance attorneys worldwide provide comprehensive legal support to our global military community in he areas of wills and estate planning, Powers of Attorney, family law, state and Federal Taxation, immigration and naturalization, consumer law, and your rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act."
http://legalassistance.law.af.mil/index.php

Swords to Plowshares as a model

"War causes wounds and suffering that last beyond the battlefield. Swords to Plowshares’ mission is to heal the wounds, to restore dignity, hope, and self-sufficiency to all veterans in need, and to significantly reduce homelessness and poverty among veterans."

Per its website:
"Swords to Plowshares is a community-based, not-for-profit organization that provides counseling and case management, employment and training, housing, and legal assistance to more than 1500 homeless and low-income veterans annually in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. We promote and protect the rights of veterans through advocacy, public education, and partnerships with local, state, and national entities."

The Swords to Plowshares model of veterans helping veterans might be replicated in communities across our nation. IT has an interesting page of links http://swords-to-plowshares.org/resources-for-veterans/
including a sub-page focussing on legal issues

Suggested Reading for non-military Types

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has posted a useful list of books for those of us fortunate enough not to have learned about Iraq in person.

* Chasing Ghosts: Failures and Facades in Iraq: A Soldier's Perspective by Paul Rieckhoff

Synopsis: Recounting his service on the front lines in Baghdad as the insurgency emerged in 2003, Rieckhoff provides a fascinating account of the danger and frustrations troops face every day. Chasing Ghosts challenges the Iraq policies of Republicans and Democrats alike, while chronicling the creation of IAVA and outlining the key issues facing a new generation of returning veterans, including an unprepared VA system, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury, suicide and homelessness.

* Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq by Jason Christopher Hartley

Synopsis: "From K-rations to dead civilians to extreme boredom punctuated by moments of extreme fear, Just Another Soldier takes the reader into the day-to-day experience of the Iraqi war. In addition to putting a human face on the Iraqi soldier, Just Another Soldier puts a human face on the country of Iraq; its culture and its people."

* Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops by Ilona Meagher

Synopsis: "Moving A Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops is a grassroots call to action designed to break the shameful silence and put the issue of PTSD in our returning troops front and center before the American public. In addition to presenting interviews with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering with PTSD, this book will be the most comprehensive resource to date for concerned citizens who want to understand the complex political, social, and health-related issues of PTSD, with an eye toward "moving our nation to care" to do what is necessary to help our fighting men and women who suffer from PTSD."

* MANY MORE:
http://www.iava.org/iava-suggested-reading

Jobs - Protection and Opportunities: USERRA and ETC.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits discrimination against persons because of their service in the Armed Forces Reserve, the National Guard, or other uniformed services.

USERRA prohibits an employer from denying any benefit of employment on the basis of an individual’s membership, application for membership, performance of service, application for service, or obligation for service in the uniformed services. USERRA also protects the right of veterans, reservists, National Guard members, and certain other members of the uniformed services to reclaim their civilian employment after being absent due to military service or training.

• USERRA Advisor: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htm at the Department of Labor
• Text of USERRA Chapter 43 USC : http://www.dol.gov/vets/usc/vpl/usc38.htm (also available at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode38/usc_sup_01_38_10_III_20_43.html )
• USERRA Links http://esgr.org/userrathelaw.asp hosted by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves: http://www.esgr.org/
• USERRA 101 online course: http://www.nvti.cudenver.edu/userra101
  
• Office Of Special Counsel on USERRA: http://www.osc.gov/userra.htm
• USERRA overview at military.com: http://www.military.com/benefits/legal-matters/userra/overview
  

See Also:
Veterans' Employment & Training Service (VETS):
http://www.dol.gov/vets/welcome.html

SCRA: Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is a federal statute passed by Congress to allow military members to suspend or postpone some civil obligations so that the military member can devote his or her full attention to military duties.

There are a variety of important protections, with a lot of details:

• Stay of Proceedings
• Default Judgments
• Eviction
• Home and Auto Leases
  
• Mortgages
• Interest Rate Cap
  

Follow the links to learn more:

• About the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (Coast Guard)
• Guide to SCRA
  
• SCRA Pocket Guide (2-page Word Document)
  
• SCRA Text (32-page PDF)

Organizations in Service to Veterans

Links to organizations of, by or for veterans. Please add any you think helpful:

Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America: http://www.iava.org/

National Gulf War Resource Center: http://www.ngwrc.org

Veterans of Modern Wars: http://modernveterans.com/

Blind Veterans Association: http://www.bva.org

Disabled American Veterans: http://www.dav.org/

Employers in Support of the Guard and Reserves: http://www.esgr.org/

Fisher House (helps families of wounded veterans be near them during treatment): http://www.fisherhouse.org/ Please note "Hero Miles", its Frequent Flyer Donation program: http://www.fisherhouse.org/programs/heroMiles.shtml

Operation Unmet Needs: http://www.unmetneeds.com/

Veterans Eye Care: http://www.veteranseyecare.com/

CLEs and other training programs for lawyers....

Training programs for lawyers seeking to provide services for veterans (going beyond representations to the VA) go in this thread.

Here's one to start with:

"Lawyers For Warriors" Dec 27 noon-5p.m. at the Washington State Bar Association
Hosted by the WSBA Peace Through Law Section, cosponsored by the WSBA Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP) Section.

Video and handouts available free http://www.rewinn.com/9893.html

Why Lawyers for Warriors?

Among those hardest hit by America's wars are the troops themselves, veterans and their families.

Few of us will give up our law practice to build schools in Afghanistan or judge in a war crimes commission, but nearly all of us who are in the law-and-justice arena will serve veterans. (Throughout this blog, when I refer to "vets" I mean to include active duty troops and their families; it's just clumsy to keep listing them all. Sorry!)

The need is huge. The JAG corps is reportedly overloaded and, at any rate, limited in what it does (e.g. it doesn't due civil law or much of anything for veterans and families.)

This blog collects and discusses resources for meeting this large need. Some general categories include:

• Training and networking lawyers (CLEs, etc.)
• Promoting pro bono services
• Enable self-help, both in the form of teach-ins for veterans, and in helping veterans through the long process of becoming lawyers themselves, so that they may better serve their buddies.

Have you got a CLE, a link, a resource, an idea? Let's see it now!


Show us what you got!