Monifa Sterling’s case rejected for appeal by USSC
You might remember Monifa Sterling, a former Marine who got into a tiff with her command structure which ended with a Big Chicken Dinner (Bad Conduct Discharge) for the lady. She took it to the civilian courts because she claimed that the issue was about some phrases from the Bible that she had posted in her work area. The Marine Corps said that she was discharged for being a bad Marine. Fox News falsely reported that it was all due to the signage at her desk, but this is from the court’s finding when the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces wouldn’t overturn the Special Court Martial;
In August 2013, another of Appellant’s superiors, SSgt Morris, noticed that Appellant was not wearing the proper uniform, and he ordered her to wear “her service uniforms as directed by the Commandant of the Marine Corps.” According to SSgt Morris, Appellant refused to obey the order because Appellant said “she had a medical chit out there stating she could not wear the uniform.” SSgt Morris spoke with medical personnel at the base, who stated that Appellant could wear the required uniform, and he again ordered Appellant to change into the proper uniform. Appellant refused. SSgt Morris then escorted Appellant to First Sergeant (1stSgt) Robinson, who repeated the order for a third time. Appellant again refused.
On September 12, 2013, 1stSgt Robinson ordered Appellant to report to the Pass and Identification building on Sunday, September 15, 2013, from 4:00 PM until approximately 7:30 PM, to help distribute vehicle passes to families of service members returning from deployment. According to 1stSgt Robinson, Appellant refused on the basis that “she was on medication.” On September 13, 2013, 1stSgt Robinson informed Major (Maj) Flatley that he was having issues with Appellant.
Maj Flatley met with Appellant to “talk some sense into her, reason with her, [and] to make sure that she goes to her appointed place of duty on Sunday.” During their conversation, Maj Flatley attempted to hand the vehicle passes to Appellant. According to Maj Flatley, Appellant refused to take the passes and stated that she would not be there and would be sleeping. As a result, Maj Flatley called 1stSgt LaRochelle and directed her to begin writing a charge sheet on Appellant.
Well, the Supreme Court reject her appeal today, and Fox News is still focusing on the Biblical phrase;
The First Liberty Institute, which represented Sterling, lamented the Supreme Court’s call on Monday.
“Because the Supreme Court did not decide to review the case, the travesty below by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will now stand,” Kelly Shackelford, CEO and chief counsel for First Liberty, said in a statement. “The military court’s outrageous decision means federal judges and military officials can strip our service members of their constitutional rights just because they don’t think someone’s religious beliefs are important enough to be protected. Our service members deserve better.”
Monifa Sterling was a bad Marine. Period. I’m glad the Supreme Court rejected the appeal which could only muddy the issue. In fact, the Biblical phrase that she posted could probably be interpreted as a means of pissing off her leaders.
Thanks to Mick for the link.
Category: Marine Corps
Even the USMC cant polish a turd! Enjoy your DD-214.
That dizzy bitch will seriously regret her stupidity one day…and you wait, you will see her claiming false valor and what a great marine she was…..turd!!
A fitting end for a sub-standard Marine in a contentious relationship with her command.
Monifa Sterling: If you had really studied your Scripture you would know that obedience to properly instituted authority is obligatory for a Christian.
Because of you the Name of Christ is being slandered. Please stop that.
A bad Marine and…a bad Christian.
Alas.
lol when did the USMC turn into Office Space with personal shit on desks? I never saw that crap while I was in super POG central trying to get whatever they fucked up fixed.
think in that first paragraph you meant “bad Marine” not “big Marine”
Yeah, I just reread the whole thing and you would think that I was the President on Twitter what with all of the miss-covefe.
So “Im a special snowflake bigger than the Marines” got booted for sucking. Where does a Corporal get the balls to talk back not only to a 1st Sgt but also a Major? My Top was a 173rd Alumni and we were all sure he would bury us in the woods if we didnt hop to it.
She must have been a decent Marine for a while to make corporal, what is that E-4? Something must have caused her attitude, or did she skate previously because of her gender or race? I am proud of those NCO’s and major who did not put up with her crap and did it by the numbers. Thank you troops.
Copy E-4.
Copy must have been doing something right to make Corporal.
Copy BZ to Chain of Command.
The photo shows she was a Lance Corporal E-3. I don’t believe she ever made Corporal E-4. And if you check out the bible phrase she had up on her desk, she fucked that up too. It was incorrect. She was an undisciplined barracks lawyer who fucked herself with her own stupidity.
Yup.
She mistakenly believed that she was going to be able to get away with trying to be ‘The Diva’ (a la Beyoncé) of her admin section and run things there at Camp Lejeune, but then she inevitably had to have it demonstrated to her in no uncertain terms that the Marine Corps was actually in charge, not her.
This was all so stupid, on so many levels. And it needlessly wasted too much time, too many resources, and too many man-hours for no good reason.
As Hack Stone says below: “I fought the Corps, and the Corps won.”
That outcome was never in doubt.
I have run into more than my fair share of privates who think they are smarter than the Army as well.
That usually doesn’t work out so well for them and they quickly realize being “too smart for the Army” isn’t a good thing.
She should know that Hondo is the only authorized barracks lawyer ’round these parts…
I’d hit it.
With a long handle pick axe.
or a grub hoe.
look at her gum to lip ratio…she’s diiiiirty …just sayin
SARC you are wonderfully disgusting. You’d fit right in on submarines.
This is what I cannot stand about the media. They spin shit so much, it is difficult to believe anything they say. Why would they focus on a non factor, instead of the real facts of the case? Agenda driven Bullshit.
Left and Right, they are more in the propaganda business, than actual relaying the news.
Glad the Courts have upheld her discharge. Shitbird.
The Western media now does Pallywood stuff too. CNN was recently caught on camera in Britain staging Sharia compliant Muslims on camera.
I wouldn’t trust any of these organizations to tell me the time of day any longer.
Boom.
Now this defiant, disrespectful, insubordinate Sea Lawyer gets to keep her BCD and live with the consequences of her actions for the rest of her days.
Outstanding.
I love a happy ending!
And she can sleep all day on Sunday. Her original goal apparently.
Doubtless she is already on welfare.
Sing it with me; “I fought the Corps, and the Corps won.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Good one, Hack!
Who the hell was her legal counsel, Daniel Bernath?
I would say that it was probably ‘Sea Lawyers R Us, LLC, with offices in every barracks at all Marine Corps installations world-wide’.
barracks lawyers are everywhere, even among non-CPOs who run out of gas in their daughter’s airplane.
They need a bit more detail with this definition.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/barracks–lawyer
I would add “to the detriment of his client”.
“Dewey, Sckrewem, and Howe, department of Prepaid Legal Services. (Gum chew…) Time is Money and the meter started running when you dialed. (Gum chew…)How can I help you further?”
(Mute)
“Hey Counselor! I got a live one for ya!”
All I can say is…
BCD means she’s an “ex” and not a “former” Marine….and I bet with her demographics, the Corps was meticulous about making this an air tight case…
Probably bulletproof with no room for an effective appeal. When it became obvious she would lose, she should have ‘BEGGED’ for forgiveness and a chance at a do-over. If she did this b/c of strong religious convictions, she was misguided by those advising her. Holy cow, she refused how many direct orders? And she still thought she could prevail?
I’ve dealt with turds such as this and she got exactly what she deserved. Sometimes the best one can hope for is to serve as an example to others on how not to act.
Well, live with your BCD for life. It’s the pathway to many high paying jobs, the ones which require asking ‘do you want to supersize those fries, Sir’? Dumbass.
Massive gums. Nice teeth. Well, bye …
From the step-by-step, by-the-book way they handled this it was clear all the players had a copy of the OPLAN except the doofus corporal.
How she made corporal with that attitude is another question. Could have been under a more lenient leadership team but I’ll bet it was a major change in her attitude.
She was a Lance Corporal (E-3) Not considered an NCO in the USMC.
The same as a PFC in the Army.
I suspect her career path will be more like, “You’ll have to pay extra for that”.
Wait, she was a Staff Sergeant refusing orders from a First Sergeant and a Major? And she lived? I am guessing the court martial knocked that grin right off her face.
Oh, it was all much more ‘special’ than that.
She was a Lance Corporal (E-3) refusing orders from a Staff Sergeant, a First Sergeant, and a Major.
What could possibly go wrong.
I could barely believe it reading that. I remember sweating bullets when as a LCpl I had to turn a Major away from a gate because he forgot his ID. Granted, part of the sweat was because it was Yuma, but still, I figured I was in for a world of shit.
How entitled and full of yourself do you have to be to tell a freakin Major to his face that you will not follow a simple order?
If I were an E3 I’d be more scared of the First Sergeant. Back in the day the First Sergeant had ways of dealing with problem kids that adjusted an attitude quickly. Here it looks like they just all passed it up the chain until the only recourse was court marital.
They probably got tired of her bullshit. Sounds like she was always willing to fill the Company Light Duty Chit quota. Where is this former Marine from? She should have reached out to her Congressional representative. I could see Hank Johnson, Corrine Brown or Maxine Waters leaping to her defense.
We aren’t allowed to beat the stupid and undisciplined ones any more. Only option is Office Hours or Courts Martial.
Yeah, if the 1SG took her to the company commander, he saw she needed to be tossed to the curb. This wasn’t the first time she played the bullshit card.
I’d bet she was being talked to about and/or had dealings with the 1SG at least 5 or 6 times previous to this without paper.
I’d also stipulate that they were waiting for her to pull one more stupid little stunt so they could slam her. I’ve seen it myself a few times. She was a shitbag just barely maintaining and playing bullshit games. They were prepared for the opportunity to toss her and not have to deal with her crap any longer.
She thought she’d be smarter about it and try to distract the issue with religion and constitutional legalese. Which worked in some cases since some made the whole thing about her having a bible verse at her desk.
I have plenty of things around my desk that are personal. I don’t hear shit about them, but at the same time, I don’t play these kinds of BS games.
This whole problem could have been avoided if the Staff Sergeant did skip a step when he went to the 1SG.
He should’ve went to the Gunny first.
Gunny would have straighten her ass out in no time.
No bad paper, she would have been in the proper place at the proper time in the proper uniform.
Because if she had disobeyed the Gunny, all traces of her DNA would have disappeared from the planet.
It would seem in her desk job, she didn’t have a Gunny. She had a SSGT and he worked for the 1SG, company HQ kind of thing.
At the same time, I’d bet that SSGT had bent over backwards straightening her out and she wouldn’t bend.
The media fixating on superfluous crap is nothing new, nor is it confined to the major media.
In the late 80s there was a case of an Airman.
He had been diagnosed as HIV positive, and after a stay at Wilford Hall he was reassigned to a new unit and Base. His Commander and first sergeant were the only ones in his chain of command with knowledge of his status. Upon arriving at his new Base he was given a written order not to indulge in unprotected sex without advising his partner of his HIV status ahead of time.
Fast forward a few months there is a party in the dorm and considerable alcohol was involved. Airman Snuffy drinks a lot and passes out. When Airman Snuffy comes to he discovers the aforementioned Bagodonuts attempting to swallow his fleshy appendage.
Air man Snuffy is not amused and reacts loudly. This is before Don’t Ask Don’t tell.
In the immediate aftermath, the HIV positive Airman gets sequestered in the Correctional Custody facility while his unit commander starts working up the paperwork. A Urinalysis is done.
Well good old Airman Bagodonuts breaks confinement and by the time he is returned to Air Force Control, the results of his Urinalysis is back and he has set a new AF record for concentration of cocaine in his system.
He gets convicted at courts martial of disobeying a lawful order, drug use, sexual assault of a homosexual nature (a twofer) and escape from confinement. He gets five years.
Years later I read about his appeal in Air Force Times. His appeal of the disobeying a lawful order was denied and the 5 year sentence upheld. But not a whisper about the other charges and specification he was convicted of.
I vaguely recall hearing about that. At the same time, it isn’t a surprise because the media is looking to present whatever will get viewers viewing.
Bad conduct properly rewarded.
I’m trying to understand this. I think I’ve said it before, but here goes: she’s busted for being insubordinate, but the media squawks something about her constitutional rights, not defining itself.
As I recall, she posted notes paraphrasing a verse as “No weapon formed against ME….”.
Yes, it’s nice of the media to pick and choose the parts it wants to ‘discuss’ even if they are irrelevant to the issue. Since she disobeyed a reasonable order more than once, she doesn’t seem to me to have a leg to stand on.
Kid’s a spoiled brat.
Yes, I remember the story and the religious spin that was played up and it didn’t seem right to me at the time. Guess it was not.
I believe the religious freedom thing was the only issue she was actually trying to appeal to the Supreme Court…and I’m sure it was the only issue that even had a prayer of being accepted by them.
It wasn’t the story of her whole case, but it was the story of her best legal issue. (And it was a lousy one, so I’m glad she got nowhere with it.)
When junior people thin they are smarter than Big (enter branch here), they forget one small thing:
Even if you are smarter, your chain of command has a lot more experience at playing fuck-fuck.
Think. Fucking thumbs.
Hack has a saying; The brig is chock full of Marines smarter than the Corps.
Amazing how true that is across each service.
Even the religious issue — and that was what she was trying to take to the Supreme Court — is a lot less sympathetic than she makes it sound. Here is a link to the original opinion from the Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals.
In response to leadership “picking on her” — her words — she put up signs saying, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” Yeah, it’s a Biblical verse, but in context it’s a passive-aggressive rebuke to the leadership, with an effort to hide behind religious freedom.
Unfortunately, characters like this do try to paint themselves as martyrs to great and noble causes.
The one thing I know about martyrs is that they are all dead. She is still alive, ergo not a martyr. Just a shitbird with a BCD on her permanent record.
Her chain of command did it right. I know if I was a 1st Sgt with a snarky little shit like that I’d tell her immediate superiors to NOT go out of their way to try to “straighten her out ” with any old school punishments. No making her scrub shitters, no long heart to heart talks about her being a shitty Marine.
She wants to live by “rights” she can die by “rights”,
Document her shit, all the orders she disobeys all the regulations she don’t follow and all her instances of being late/UA.
Then I’d take that GI issued black pen and ravage her with it.
There you go. Let her fuck up and then shitcan her as fast as possible. Makes for a better Marine Corps with one like that gone.
(Perhaps things have changed since I was in uniform).
The part of the article that got me is where it says the Major tried to “…talk some sense into her, reason with her, [and] to make sure that she goes to her appointed place of duty on Sunday.”
Short of reading her Article 31 rights, any conversation with her after she disobeyed her SSgt and the 1stSgt should have ceased.
Maybe I’m missing something.
Race and gender and public perception while the SJWs were running rampant on their unicorns in the 5-sided Puzzle Palace.
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
Turdette.
But I am sure she will applying for a discharge upgrade for “the PTSD” or some other paying identifier.
The military is all cool and shit to use as a
“job” for the free beers and sympathy until I actually have to do some shit.
Like wear a fucking uniform.
Have fun USMC!
Let her try. I read somewhere that very few BCD’s from the Marine Corps ever get upgraded. She is screwed on that front.
She could have at least pulled a Jarret Gimbl on appellate leave and got her teeth rearranged by a slugger, then fixed at the Gub-mint expense.
It’s good to see this outcome. I have 2 sons in the guard and from them I get the impression that due to PC it’s getting harder and harder to separate the wheat from the chaff.
A lifetime of butthurt is now n order…
Funny, I don’t see any comments by Lars or Joe. It covers two of their favorite subjects.
::crickets::
How did that person graduate from training? I would have expected such a defiant/oppositional personality to be rather obvious under the spotlight of initial entry training.
Or, is it a case of the reduction in strict control at a normal duty station allowed the true “defiant” type to re-assert and run rampant?
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