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"Balancing Your Strengths Against Your Felonies": Considerations For Military Recruitment Of Ex-Offenders, Michael Boucai

Journal Articles

Existing work on ex-offenders’ access to military employment too narrowly represents both the Armed Forces’ and the public’s interests in the issue. This Article proposes to shift the conversation from ex-offenders’ usefulness to the Armed Forces to the reciprocal responsibilities and benefits involved for these potential recruits, the military, and society at large. Part One reviews the rules, policies, and procedures governing the “moral waivers” that allow thousands of individuals with criminal histories to enlist each year, and it shows that that the waiver system nonetheless often fails to detect the criminal backgrounds of many recruits. Part Two reviews some …