Military Recruiting – California

Full adult privileges are not afforded to U.S. youth until age 21, yet youth in the U.S. are recruited for the military as early as middle school. Aside from the issue of marketing the military to ANYONE, there’s something wrong with this picture of youth recruiting. Democracy Now! aired a segment yesterday on military recruiting in California.


Last November, residents of Eureka and Arcata passed a ballot initiative known as the Youth Protection Act that bars the US government from trying to enlist youths under the age of eighteen in any branch of the US armed forces. But just days after the laws went into effect, the Justice Department filed a suit seeking to overturn them. The Justice Department’s civil action says the initiatives are invalid because they conflict with federal law. Both towns are refusing to cave. They’ve hired lawyers and filed counter-claims challenging the federal government’s action.

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