Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general in supporting a veteran’s legal challenge to ensure full G.I. Bill education benefits and the ability to transfer them to family members, in line with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Per the news release distributed on Friday, June 14: “Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a bipartisan coalition of 51 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, standing with military veterans and their families to ensure they receive full G.I. Bill education benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“Lieutenant Colonel Yoon served our country for nearly 24 years in some of the most dangerous places in the world, and now the VA is blocking him from transferring his education benefits to help his daughter pay for law school,” said Attorney General Brown. “Our veterans earned these benefits through their service and sacrifice, and they should be able to pass them on to their children.”
The case,
Yoon v. Collins
, centers on Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yoon, a decorated Virginia Army veteran who served nearly 24 years, including deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in
Rudisill v. McDonough
, the VA continues to deny LTC Yoon full G.I. Bill education benefits and has blocked him from transferring those benefits to his daughter.
In
Rudisill
, the Supreme Court held that veterans who qualify under both the Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bills are entitled to 48 months of combined education benefits based on their total length of service. The VA’s refusal to apply that ruling to LTC Yoon’s case directly contradicts the Supreme Court’s decision and undermines the federal government’s commitment to those who have served.
Joining Attorney General Brown in filing today’s brief are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.”
