Bill would offer military members more protection

A bill attempting to ensure legal protection for military members whose assignments abroad threaten their ability to meet financial obligations was introduced on Thursday by North Carolina congressmen.

Reps. Walter Jones and Brad Miller introduced the bipartisan Servicemembers' Rights Protection Act to enhance and remove any ambiguity in the protections of a 2003 law aimed at much the same thing. The law has been ignored by some judges when service members attempted to bring suit against those not complying with the provisions of that law.

Jones said in a release that the legislation "would protect members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families against actions such as evictions or foreclosure while they are deployed in service to their country.

"By explicitly ensuring that our military men and women may assert a private cause of action to enforce their rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, this bill will protect our servicemembers' rights and give them greater peace of mind while they are deployed abroad."

Rep. Miller said, "A right that cannot be enforced is no right at all. The SCRA must have real teeth or it's meaningless."

The Servicemembers' Rights Protection Act would authorize the attorney general to file a civil action in cases where there is reasonable belief of a SCRA violation. It allows the military member to join the civil action the attorney general starts and amends the law to clarify that the individual may also bring private action.

State Rep. Grier Martin of Wake County, an army reservist and Afghanistan war veteran, contacted Rep. Miller about the need for the legislation after reading a federal district court case that denied a military member's right to court access.

Martin said, "This is a crucial step in protecting those who protect us."