A judge in Alabama recently sentenced a 23 year-old former college student to military service after he posted to his Facebook page that he might try to outdo the Virginia Tech shooter resulting in a 45-minute lockdown of Faulkner University.
According to the USA Today:
In announcing her sentence, Montgomery County Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey told Lambert: “You are going into the military. That is not a choice.”
Lambert says he has talked to an Army recruiter who seemed to think he had a good chance of being able to enlist, the paper says.
He could not join while he is on probation, but the judge, a self-described “military brat,” said she could adjust the terms if Lambert shows a “good-faith effort” that he is trying to enlist.
A comment appears to have been left from a representative from the Public Affairs Specialist for Army Recruiting Command which goes on to say:
The United States Army as well as the other military services are not alternatives to the justice system. A person who applies for enlistment does so voluntarily. We (the Army) have a strict policy that prohibits any person who is incarcerated, on parole or probation from applying for enlistment until all civil restraint has been completed. Further a person with a criminal record may have a waiting period before they can apply and in a few instances a waiver process may both consider eligibility for qualification is required.
While an unusual for the present day, forced enlistment was once a common sentence for crimes. According to the article from BlogCritics.org:
According to Harry M. Ward, Professor Emeritus at the University of Richmond, the practice dates from colonial times when vagrants were sentenced to military service. It expanded during the Revolution as courts offered Tories the chance to avoid punishments up to and including the death penalty by enlisting in the Continental Army. As recently as the 1960s, youthful offenders were routinely given the choice to join up or go to jail. Few chose the slammer.
The article goes on to say that while the judge has the right to sentence individuals to military service, it may not be a very good idea. An effective military requires individuals with a high level of ethics and integrity as individuals may be placed in high stakes situations that can have enormous repercussions on international relations. The military also benefits from an all-volunteer force which leads to higher motivation and morale of troops. So while the individual may have a better chance of becoming a contributing member of society by being forced to enlist, there are many reasons for the military to be opposed to this practice by judges.
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