On Tuesday, the Court decided Rudisill v. McDonough. This case involved a retired Army officer who was trying to use educational benefits under two different programs. The statutory interpretation question is rather complicated. The Court split 7-2. Justice Jackson wrote the majority opinion, holding that the servicemember could use benefits from either program, in any order. Justice Thomas dissented, joined by Justice Alito, finding that the servicemember could not receive certain benefits in this case.
This is a case where Justices Thomas and Alito clearly voted against their interest. The Court's two most conservative members said GI No! The plaintiff was an Army Captain who sought to use his educational benefits at Yale Divinity School to become a chaplain. I don't think you could have genetically engineered a more conservative-friendly plaintiff in a laboratory at the Reagan Library. This case is the inverse of Justice Scalia ruling in favor of the flag-burning Gregory Lee Johnson. If Justices Thomas and Alito found this statute unambiguously supported the federal government's position, against the veteran, I am inclined to agree. Indeed, the very last sentence of the dissent accused the majority of "ignor[ing]" the statute "in favor of an interpretation that reaches a desired outcome." We support the troops!
Here, I wanted to flag Justice Kavanaugh's concurrence, which was joined by Justice Barrett. The lower court relied on the "pro-veteran canon." Under this canon, which I had never heard of, ambiguous statutes should be read to favor granting benefits to veterans. The majority found the statute was not ambiguous, so the canon did not apply.
