Rumsfeld sued over Pentagon's recruiting database (By 6 NY Teens)

[RamboLiberal]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060424/pl_nm/arms_usa_database_dc

Six New York teen-agers sued Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld on Monday, alleging the U.S. Department of Defense broke the law by keeping an extensive database on potential recruits.

The suit in federal court in Manhattan follows a series of allegations last year of misconduct by recruiters, who have experienced difficulty meeting targets because of the war in Iraq.

The Pentagon last year acknowledged it had created a database of 12 million Americans, full of personal data such as grades and Social Security numbers, to help find potential military recruits.

The Pentagon has defended the practice as critical to the success of the all-volunteer U.S. military, and said it was sensitive to privacy concerns.

But the suit alleges the Pentagon improperly collected data on people as young as 16 and kept it beyond a three-year limit, and said that the law does not allow for keeping records on race, ethnicity, gender or social security numbers.

[truthisfreedom]

1. bwahahahahahahahahaaaaaa! rummy's back in the news...

surprised?

[napi21]

2. I'm glad to hear this, but really, can you sue a Gov't official?

I always thought you couldn't.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Some you can, some you can't

Elected politicians are immune from direct civil and criminal suits while they hold office (and, for legislators, while the legislature is in session); that was written in to the US and most state constitutions because lawsuits had been used in 18th century England to harass members of Parliament and prevent them from making critical votes.

Agencies, however, are not immune, and by legal practice, the head of the agency is always named in the suit. These kids are suing the Pentagon, which is legal. Rummy is named because, as Secretary of Defense, he is nominally in charge of everything the Pentagon does and ultimately is legally accountable for any laws that the Pentagon breaks.

[napi21]

6. Thanks. somebody has to tell the people who work for US

that they have to obey the laws, since their boss doesn't think they have to!

[ThomCat]

I hope they nail Rumsfeld for this

and cause so much of a stink that the miltary has to publicly apologize and kill the database.

[Robbien]

3. Isn't it a shame that they have to sue to get Rummy to follow the rules

No wonder the GOP wants to eliminate "activist" judges.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Rumsfeld is NOT being sued

It is the Pentagon, a government agency, which is being sued. Rumsfeld is named in the suit as a legal formality; as Secretary of Defense, he is ultimately responsible (in theory, anyway) for any lawbreaking or other malfeasance that the Pentagon does. The others named in the suit -- David Chu, Under Secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, and Matt Boehmer, the Pentagon's director of advertising and market research studies -- are likewise not being sued; they are mentioned because they represent the chain of command leading to the database at the center of the suit. But even if Rummy did directly and willfully violate the law (or order others under his command to violate the law), he can not be sued directly until he is out of power.

[patriothackd]

7. If a high school kid is on a sports team he's in their database

They are going after jocks in their recruiting. Offering to drive them around town in Hummers, volunteering to help with the teams.

[Canuckistanian]

8. Rich-kid jocks?

Or just the depressed-area minority ones?

Welcome to DU!
:toast:
:hi:

[saigon68]

13. Rich-kid jocks like Cheney

Have other priorities in life, OTHER than getting their nuts blown off.

Like joining daddy's bank or law firm

LOL

[Canuckistanian]

14. Yes, the US is a Richjockracy!

Rule by, and for rich jocks everywhere!

[cliss]

9. Good. There should be a lawsuit filed against

Rumsfailed each and every day. They should all make it to Yahoo News and the major news publications. Let's see how long this tapeworm can hang on.

We're flushing you out, buddy!!! You're tough, but we're tougher...especially the Droncit.

The Pentagon has been after my kids for a long time. I have 3 tall, blond healthy teenage boys. We've had to shovel the junk mail out the door from the Army, Air Force, Marines you name it. Too many goodies to mention. We resisted.

One day, I called the Army recruiter and told them my kids were going to get a citizenship in a foreign country. Would that work so they wouldn't get drafted? You should have heard them on the other end. They were absolutely frantic, "wait, can I talk to your son? Please, listen, I just need to tell him the benefits of the Army...it's too good to be true, scholarships, money you name it".

I politely told him we weren't interested. Sheesh.

[Eugene]

10. Suit Claims Defense Dept. Data Use Illegal

Suit Claims Defense Dept. Data Use Illegal

By PAT MILTON
The Associated Press
Monday, April 24, 2006; 9:20 PM

NEW YORK -- The Defense Department is violating the privacy of millions
of high school students nationwide with a detailed database it uses
for military recruitment, a federal lawsuit filed Monday claims.

The New York Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of six high schoolers,
saying the department is ignoring privacy rules set by Congress regarding
the collection and distribution of students' personal information.

<snip>

The department is flouting a 1982 military recruitment law that specifies
that it refrain from collecting information on students under 17, that it store
the information for no more than three years and that the information be kept
private, the lawsuit said.

The current database includes information on 16-year-olds, is storing the
information for five years and is being shared with law enforcement and other
agencies, the lawsuit said.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/24/AR2006042401542.html

[NVMojo]

11. think of these as disposable human inventory databases and this

mean so much more to the average US citizen. These are nothing more than an inventory of potential nuke, bomb and cannon foder for the Bush regime and the corporations they go to war for.

[EFerrari]

12. Won't Torquemada simply parse NCLB to supercede this? n/t

[DemVet]

15. I wonder if they are going to sue Colleges....

...that keep databases on potential students.

This is stupid...just another reason why we need torte reform.

[Robb]

16. The real question is, how was Hillary involved? nt