Vets and Free Speech

Today's Trib has an interesting article regarding veterans' right to protest in uniform. Personally I'm torn - they're no longer active duty soldiers so obviously they shouldn't be bound by conventional military rules, but on a less legal level, I feel these guys are disgracing the uniform they wear by consorting with anti-war activists. Not that that will stand up in court.

However, looking at precedent, in the past the Supreme Court has been rather accommodating to the military, as when they noted in Goldman v. Weinberger (475 US 503, 1986), that "[o]ur review of military regulations challenged on First Amendment grounds is far more deferential than constitutional review of similar laws or regulations designed for civilian society." Obviously the pressing question is whether or not veterans are equally bound.