this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2025

223 points (97.9% liked)

News

32953 readers

2949 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil

Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.

2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.

Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.

3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.

Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.

4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.

Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.

5. Only recent news is allowed.

Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.

6. All posts must be news articles.

No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

7. No duplicate posts.

If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.

8. Misinformation is prohibited.

Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.

9. No link shorteners.

The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.

10. Don't copy entire article in your post body

For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

JonsJava@lemmy.world

gedaliyah@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world

223

They’ve never been arrested. Why does the FBI list thousands of service members as potential criminals? (www.texastribune.org)

submitted 3 days ago by UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

While deployed in Kuwait, Rosales, a member of the Texas Army National Guard, threw a birthday party for her husband. Some of the guests allegedly brought alcohol, according to the Army, “in a nation where such substances are illegal.” She was investigated and fingerprinted by an Army investigator, but received nothing more than an administrative reprimand.

...

But here’s the problem: Every branch of the military shares titling records in criminal databases with more than two dozen agencies, including the FBI, even if the case was dropped.

The fallout can be devastating because the records are retrievable for decades. Veterans can be passed over for promotions, rejected on apartment applications, and denied firearms clearance, advocates say. With the stain on their record, some struggle to get a job for years.

“Who will take my word over the plain text of the FBI’s criminal history?” Rosales, 39, asks in an affidavit in her lawsuit.

top 22 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 70 points 3 days ago (2 children)

theVeterans can be ... rejected on apartment applications

what the fuck is wrong in the US? You can have the money, the income, etc., and still be rejected an apartment just because there was a dropped criminal investigation in your past? Not even a conviction, just an investigation. I was investigated (case dropped) in Hungary because my ex flatmate defrauded a bunch of people in relation to the flat (landlord, electric, water and heating providers, among other things), then tried to blame me for them, going as far as reporting me to the police (who quickly discovered that I wasn't the responsible party at the times indicated and all the fraud happened after I moved out, so the case was dropped). In the US, a landlord could seriously deny my application for housing purely based on such an investigation taking place? This is beyond ridiculous.

[–] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 36 points 3 days ago

America is a shithole

[–] protist@mander.xyz -4 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I doubt this has to do with run-of-the-mill housing applications. I bet this is in regards to VA-specific housing programs

[–] ThinkBeforeYouPost@lemmy.world 18 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's not.

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 5 points 3 days ago

Sounds like at this point if you want to kill someone, it's enough to report them to the police.

They either get swatted or the investigation opened will make life impossible enough for them to commit suicide...

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Even if it is... You'd seriously deny a vet housing because they had an investigation opened against them, that, again, was closed without further action?

[–] socphoenix@midwest.social 1 points 3 days ago

Many places (jobs and housing) will say anything on a record is enough if it’s potentially worse than a parking ticket basically.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 64 points 3 days ago (3 children)

For a country where half the population fetishises the military and the vast majority "thanks them for their service", we sure do treat them like shit.

[–] SassyRamen@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago

Wait until you're a combat vet trying to get custody of your kids. My lawyer warned me that the judge sees that worse than having a fellony.

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 14 points 3 days ago

It's pretty comical from an outsider's POV. So god damned desperate and/or gullible.

[–] minnow@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Fascists love what the military and police represent (to them, strength and order) but any individual who deviates from the script is a traitor who deserves to have their life ruined or worse.

Just look at Kegbreath's speech to all the generals. Fascists don't care about reality (whether those generals were competent) but only care about the appearance of power (facial hair and too much weight around the middle don't "look powerful" and therefore are as bad as treason).

[–] foodandart@lemmy.zip 33 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If ever there was a reason to hesitate to join the military - regardless of what benefits it may offer, this is it.

Sweet Jesus, what a fiasco.

[–] FunctionallyLiterate@lemmy.ca 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

For America, that's more of a SNAFU.

[–] FerretyFever0@fedia.io 29 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Is it also punishable for queer service members to fuck in a country where it's illegal? Or even just unmarried service members in the same situation? It seems a bit silly.

[–] whiwake@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

If you go to a country and break the laws, you broke the laws. It doesn’t say if the party was on a military base or not

[–] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 13 points 3 days ago

The US military itself imports alcohol to Kuwait to provide to military members on holidays or very special occasions. Its rare, but they do it

[–] FunctionallyLiterate@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Which is absurd. While deployed, there's nowhere to relax and be themselves like every other human needs to do regularly. The bases should be considered "home" while off duty.

[–] whiwake@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title10-section892&num=0&edition=prelim

violates or fails to obey any lawful general order or regulation;

So I’m guessing that to be nice to the host country, there was an order for no alcohol. Having alcohol would technically be disobeying in order. I know it sounds ridiculous. I am not at all a fan of the military lol Or obedience

[–] PolarPirate@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Can confirm. The US military follows host nation laws while over seas. That being said, they aren't necessarily going out of their way to enforce those rules. The alcohol thing is common because people start acting stupid and cause a scene, but you should be fine to peg your boy as long as you keep the noise down.

[–] FerretyFever0@fedia.io 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Alright, so just be quiet about breaking the law then. Don't tell everyone about it.

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

Basically the same way it works everywhere, yes.

[–] FunctionallyLiterate@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 days ago

That makes two of us, and this just reinforced that notion.