Recent Religious Accommodations: Have We Gone Too Far Too Fast.

摘要

Since 2009, the Army has granted religious accommodations to six soldiers to allow them relief from the Army's grooming policy that males must be clean-shaven. The Army had not granted any such exceptions since the 1980s. This paper presents the case of Rabbi Menachem M. Stern, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi of the Chadbad Lubavitch community. Rabbi Stern applied to join the U.S. Army Reserve in January 2009. In his application, he stated that he would not remove his beard in accordance with his religious beliefs. In May 2009, Rabbi Stern requested an exemption from the Army's grooming regulation. In June 2009, the Army e-mailed Rabbi Stern telling him that it had selected him for a commission in the Army Reserve. Army Human Resources Command issued Rabbi Stern orders dated September 1, 2009 appointing him in the Army Reserve. However, it rescinded those orders the following day. The Office of the Chief of Chaplains telephonically and in writing informed Rabbi Stern that administrative errors were the cause of him receiving the e-mail and appointment orders. Rabbi Stern sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In his complaint, he sought the court to order the Army to commission him as a chaplain and permanently prohibit the Army from requiring him to shave. Recently, the Department of Justice and the Army settled Rabbi Stern's case and the Army granted Rabbi Stern a temporary accommodation to allow him to attend chaplain initial military training. This paper discusses the evolution of the military's requirement for service members to wear uniforms; the Army's need for discipline; Army regulations on hair, beards, and religious accommodations; foreign militaries' policies on head and facial hair; and legal implications of temporary and assignment-specific grooming and uniform accommodations for religious beliefs.