A Navy chaplain says he will appeal the ruling by a Naval court-martial panel that found him guilty of disobeying the order of a superior officer when he appeared in uniform during a news conference outside the White House in March.
Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt received a reprimand and a suspended fine for the conviction, but he says the conviction will effectively end his military career, possibly by the end of the year. But Klingenschmitt says he will appeal the decision using the argument that the order was based on an illegal policy put in place by the Secretary of the Navy.
"When I went there and prayed in Jesus' name, I relied upon the Navy uniform regulations," Klingenschmitt explains. "But no, the judge ruled that those uniform regulations don't protect me because the Secretary of the Navy policy now has redefined 'public worship.' It's redefined 'religious observance.'"
But Chaplain Klingenschmitt says recent comments attributed to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld could open the door to a dismissal of the conviction. "On Tuesday night, Senator Warner made a speech on the floor of the Senate, and he said that Secretary Rumsfeld now is going to rescind or not enforce or hold in abeyance this illegal Secretary of the Navy policy that requires non-sectarian prayers," he shares. "This is great news."
The news is so good that Klingenschmitt plans to use it as the basis for his appeal.
"When the military judge based his ruling on this illegal Navy policy -- and now the Secretary of Defense has rescinded the illegal Navy policy -- how can they enforce an order that even the Secretary of Defense agrees now was an unlawful order?" he asks. "This will be the grounds for my appeal."
Klingenschmitt says he plans to write a letter to the judge advocate general of the Navy stating his appeal -- "and hopefully they'll overturn my conviction," he states.
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