Army moves to strip jailed hip-hop soldier of civilian legal team

Today, Fort Stewart, Georgia officials confirmed that the Army will attempt to separate Spc Marc A Hall from both his civilian legal team and his established military defender Capt. Anthony Schiavetti by sending him to Iraq "within a few days" to face court martial. The Army declared that, "The jurisdiction transfer ensures a full and fair trial for both Spc. Hall and the United States." Nothing could be farther from the truth, at least for Spc. Hall. "It is our belief that the Army would violate its own regulations by deploying Marc and it would certainly violate his right to due process by making it far more difficult to get witnesses. It appears the Army doesn't believe it can get a conviction in a fair and public trial. We will do whatever we can to insure he remain in the United States," explains attorney David Gespass of Birmingham, Alabama. Spc. Marc Hall produced and distributed an angry hip-hop song in July 2009 when he discovered that he would not be allowed to leave active duty due to the Army's "stop-loss" policy. Spc. Hall continued to serve with his unit for the next four months undergoing command and mental health counseling as requested. "I explained to [my first sergeant] that the hardcore rap song was a free expression of how people feel about the Army and its stop-loss policy. I explained that the song was neither a physical threat nor any threat whatsoever. I told him it was just hip-hop," explained Spc. Hall.