To: Active duty, National Guard and Reserves members of the U.S. Armed Forces
From: The Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyer’s Guild, Center on Conscience and War, Veterans For Peace and About Face
We have heard from many active duty military personnel that they are concerned about the U.S. funding of the Israeli government’s continued war on the people of Palestine.
We have created this "Appeal for Redress-V2" (Click here to see the history of Appeal for Redress v1) so you can tell your Congressional representatives how you feel about what our government is doing. It has been thoroughly vetted by G.I. rights attorneys who have advised active duty military members like yourself for many years.
Please consider participating and letting your elected representatives know how you feel. If you decide to participate in this project, thank you very much for exercising your First Amendment rights.
Legal warning for Appeal for Redress-V2
The US Constitution, federal law, and DoD regulations protect the rights of all military servicemembers to communicate with members of Congress, however, there are still risks involved in participating in this campaign, including:
1. You may face illegal retaliation by your command if they hear word of your participation.
2. If you later engage in civil disobedience, signing this letter could be used against you in a court-martial for the civil disobedience.
3. If you communicate with your member of Congress beyond this campaign (such as in personal correspondence), you can still be punished for said communications if you: (1) reveal classified information without permission, (2) make threats, (3) use “contemptuous words” to speak of your chain of command (including the President), and (4) make "disloyal" statements.
If you have further questions about your rights (or if you wish to write a letter of your own, not using the boilerplate language provided on this form), volunteer attorneys with the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild have agreed to provide a pro-bono (free) consultation by phone or email for servicemembers with questions or concerns. Please contact the MLTF at help@nlgmltf.org or 619-463-2369 to schedule such a meeting.