Abstract

Excerpted From: Holly L. Christian, The Scarlet Letter Plaguing Black Veterans: Racial Disparity and the Pursuit of Restorative Justice for Veterans with “Bad Paper” Military Discharges, 73 UCLA Law Review Discourse 270 (2026) (Full Document)

The U.S. military discharge process, including the disciplinary procedures prior to discharge, has a large amount of command discretion. This discretion, paired with a history of systemic racism and individual bias, leads to racial inequality in the military justice system and the discharge process. As a result, Black veterans experience bad paper discharges at a much higher rate than their white counterparts. Bad paper can stigmatize a veteran for life, making them potentially ineligible for the benefits they were promised upon enlistment, such as Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and disability compensation, G.I. Bill educational benefits, or even the right to be buried in a veterans’ cemetery. Further, this scarlet letter on a veteran’s discharge document, the DD 214, can bias employers, landlords, and others who use this paperwork to certify a veteran’s status for certain veteran preference programs and initiatives.

The sole remedy for a veteran to change their unjust or erroneous discharge status is to submit an application for a discharge upgrade to either the Discharge Review Boards or the Boards for Corrections of Military/Naval Records (Boards). These Boards have the authority to change discharge status and reissue discharge papers. However, success rates at the Boards are low, especially if the application does not include an argument like mitigating mental health conditions or other bases covered in Department of Defense (DoD) guidance memorandums. The Boards’ strong presumption of regularity in the discharge process and the problems veterans face in providing evidence of discrimination makes it increasingly difficult for veterans to make successful arguments for a discharge upgrade.

A character of discharge determination, or VA recharacterization, is an alternative route for a veteran to attain VA benefits after a bad paper discharge. This determination can make the veteran “eligible for VA purposes only,” but it would not correct their DD 214 paperwork or result in an actual change to their discharge status. Advocates view this remedy as a form of waiver through which veterans may access benefits despite a bad paper discharge. However, many veterans with bad paper face both statutory and regulatory bars to VA recharacterization that prevent them from obtaining relief through this process. For veterans who were discharged with bad paper due to racial discrimination, getting appropriate relief and restorative justice is an uphill battle.

Part I of this Essay addresses the prevalence of race-based discriminatory military discharges. Part II discusses the impact of bad paper for Black veterans. Part III outlines the rates of success at the Boards in applications based on discrimination. Part IV poses potential legal solutions to ameliorate this issue, including the issuance of guidance memoranda by the Secretary of the DoD and class action lawsuits.

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Black veterans impacted by discriminatory, race-based discharges are left with a scarlet letter that significantly and unjustly affects their lives. As this Essay has demonstrated, Black veterans are disproportionately subjected to bad paper discharges, a direct consequence of a military justice system with a history of systemic racism and bias. But this inequity does not end at their separation from service. A bad paper discharge can serve as a lifelong barrier, stigmatizing veterans and making them potentially ineligible for the very benefits they were promised at enlistment, including VA health care, housing assistance, and educational benefits.

The primary remedy available to these veterans, an application for a discharge upgrade, has proven to be largely ineffective. Military correction boards have a documented history of failing to address claims of racial trauma and racial discrimination, with a grant rate significantly lower than their general grant rates.

Restoring justice for Black veterans with bad paper discharges requires a multifaceted approach. It is not enough to simply identify the problem; it is imperative to act. The military and the VA must implement binding, systemic changes that acknowledge and rectify the racial disparities in the discharge process. This must begin with the issuance of a DoD guidance memorandum that explicitly mandates “liberal consideration” for discharge upgrade applications based on racial discrimination, mirroring the successful guidance about PTSD and MST cases. Furthermore, advocates must continue to leverage legal avenues, such as class action litigation, to hold the military and VA accountable for their discriminatory practices and to secure permanent, court-ordered relief. These two solutions can be used independently, or, more effectively, as a two-pronged approached insuring both top-down policy and individual relief to produce the most beneficial outcome.

Ultimately, we have an obligation to ensure that the promise of service is not diminished by the color of one’s skin. The military’s failure to address racial trauma is not just a missed opportunity; it is a moral failing that perpetuates a cycle of harm and injustice. The call to action is clear: military leadership, policymakers, and legal advocates must work together to dismantle the barriers that have unjustly penalized generations of Black veterans. Only then can we begin to repair the racial trauma of the past and secure a future where all who have served are afforded the honor, dignity, and benefits they rightfully earned.

Holly L. Christian, Esq. is an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Veterans Law Clinic at Detroit Mercy Law. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Depaul College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Dayton.