A felony waiver is special permission granted to United States military recruit with a felony on their criminal record. Some crimes that are considered to be misdemeanors according to respective state law may be, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, considered felonies and thus would require a felony waiver. Occupations requiring high level security clearances are usually closed to individuals seeking felony waivers. They are increasingly being issued by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps to bolster forces that are strained by the demands of the ongoing War on Terror. This is a more common practice today than in the past, along with the usage of the stop-loss policy.
US Representative Henry Waxman of California is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Upon releasing data focused on felony waivers, Waxman acknowledged public sentiment regarding the usage of felony waivers, stating that "Concerns have been raised that the significant increase in the recruitment of persons with criminal records is a result of the strain put on the military by the Iraq war and may be undermining military readiness."
Famous quotes containing the word felony:
“Publishers are notoriously slothful about numbers, unless they’re attached to dollar signs—unlike journalists, quarterbacks, and felony criminal defendents who tend to be keenly aware of numbers at all times.”
—Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939)