Attorney General Miyares Leads 42 State Bipartisan Coalition Urging SCOTUS To Protect Veterans' Rights

RICHMOND, VA – Attorney General Jason Miyares today led a bipartisan coalition of the attorneys general of 40 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands urging the Supreme Court to protect veterans' rights by ruling in favor of James Rudisill in Rudisill v. McDonough.

In April, Attorney General Miyares led a bipartisan coalition of 33 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia in asking the Supreme Court to take Mr. Rudisill’s case. Now, the bipartisan attorneys general urge the Supreme Court to stand with veterans’ rights and rule with Mr. Rudisill. 

“As a country, we will always be indebted to our veterans. The benefits veterans' earn from their service is the least we can do to try and repay their sacrifice. That’s why it’s crucial that the Supreme Court recognize the Federal Circuit’s mistake when it stripped James Rudisill of his post 9/11 GI education benefits because he wanted to find a new way to serve his country,” said Attorney General Miyares. “Republican and Democratic attorneys general are coming together because the ruling isn’t just wrong - it unfairly harms every veteran’s reentry into civilian life.”

James Rudisill is a Virginia resident and a decorated army veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. After his first tour, Mr. Rudisill used his Montgomery GI Bill benefits to further his education, successfully complete his undergraduate degree, and return to the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer. Mr. Rudisill served his country bravely and received one of the military's highest accolades - the Bronze Star - for his service. Following his third tour, Mr. Rudisill was accepted into the Yale Divinity School, with a goal of returning to the armed forces yet again, this time as a chaplain.

The Department of Veterans Affairs ("VA”) denied Mr. Rudisill his Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, despite the fact that veterans with multiple requisite periods of service, like Mr. Rudisill, can earn up to 48 months of educational benefits.

This inexplicable decision by the VA was overturned by multiple courts, but the en banc U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit ultimately upheld the VA's decision, robbing thousands of veterans of the GI benefits they earned while serving their country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Attorney General Miyares’ brief was joined by: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Read the brief HERE.

###