Active duty, reserve, and National Guard service members are valued and respected citizens and the importance of their role as front-line defenders of our country in the global war on terror is widely understood and appreciated. However, they are often not treated fairly in our courts, the workplace and other venues.

After a yearlong review, the ABA Working Group on Protecting the Rights of Service Members has identified a number of areas where the men and women in the military encounter undue inequities and challenges. The Report on Protecting the Rights of Service Members cites family support, child custody, housing, tax law, tuition benefits, and voting and employment rights as areas in need of improved legal safeguards, and suggests a number of steps that can be taken by the legal and business communities, legislatures, military and federal government to improve the lives of our service members. The report and its recommendations have not been adopted by the ABA’s House of Delegates, and so do not represent official ABA policy.