United States v. Bush

247 F. Supp. 2d 783, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25251, 2002 WL 31941463
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. North Carolina
DecidedDecember 18, 2002
Docket1:99-cv-00499
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 247 F. Supp. 2d 783 (United States v. Bush) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bush, 247 F. Supp. 2d 783, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25251, 2002 WL 31941463 (M.D.N.C. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TILLEY, Chief Judge.

This case is before the Court on the Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment *785 and Motion to Dismiss Defendant’s Counterclaims [Docs. # 19 & 20] and the Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. #34]. For the reasons set forth below, the Plaintiffs Motion is GRANTED, the Defendant’s Counterclaims are DISMISSED, and the Defendant’s Motion is DENIED.

I.

The undisputed facts are as follows. On August 28, 1988, Jason Bush entered into an Army Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps (“ROTC”) Scholarship Cadet Contract (“contract”). The contract provided monies from the United States Government to Bush for tuition, fee payments, and subsistence allowance while he was enrolled in the ROTC at Clarkson University. The contract required that Bush, among other things, complete the requirements of a four-year course of instruction in the ROTC Program at Clarkson University. If Bush failed the ROTC course of study or was disenrolled as a scholarship ROTC student the contract gave the Army the option to order Bush to active duty as an enlisted soldier.

The contract stated that “[t]his contract may be terminated by the Secretary of the Army because of breach of contract on... [defendant’s]... part for any reason to include misconduct.” The contract also stated that “[a]s used in this contract, misconduct includes, but is not limited to, misrepresentation, failure due to separation because of homosexuality, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, criminal conduct, civil confinement, unsuccessful completion of a weight control program, and moral or professional dereliction.”

The contract further provided that if Bush failed to complete the period of active duty specified under the contract, he would be required to reimburse the United States the dollar amount with interest of the total cost of the scholarship financial assistance provided to him.

On March 8, 1992, Bush was arrested for wanton acts of vandalism after he smashed the windows of several cars parked at a used car dealership in Potsdam, New York. Bush caused in excess of $2,000.00 in damages to the owner of the dealership. Pursuant to a guilty plea, Bush was convicted on three counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree.

Prior to his conviction Bush had an excellent ROTC record including high grade point averages in all of his ROTC classes. Bush also volunteered for and completed Airborne and Air Assault training.

On April 12, 1993, a Board of Officers was convened pursuant to Army Regulation 145-1, paragraph 3-43 and Army Regulation 15-6. The Board of Officers met to consider Bush’s case for a possible breach of his contract and to determine if he should be commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army. Bush, represented by counsel, personally appeared before the Board of Officers. Bush was the only witness to testify before the Board.

During the hearing, Bush orally acknowledged signing the DA Form 597-3, the DA Form 567-3A-R, and the DD Forms 4-1 and 4-2 that created the contract between himself and the Secretary of the Army. Bush also acknowledged that he had received scholarship monies and subsistence payments while he was attending Clarkson University. While in front of the Board of Officers, Bush’s counsel requested that Bush be allowed “to come to financial terms for the repayment of his obligation as opposed to entering active duty.”

Bush testified that the incident “is an incident not related to my character in any way. This was one hour of one day of my college career... .and in no way typifies who I am as a person or in any way *786 reflects my career as a cadet.” Bush also introduced written evidence in the form of a number of letters of recommendation. The letters included letters from: (1) the active duty officers of the Clarkson University ROTC; (2) Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence C. Shakleton, Professor of Military Science and head of the Clarkson University ROTC program; (3) Captain Thomas Besto; and (4) Kenneth J. McAu-liffe, Principal of the Defendant’s Junior-Senior High School.

Bush also introduced evidence of an eye injury he received during Army training in July 1991 and the surgery he underwent as a result. Bush testified that Professor Shakleton told him that because of the injury he could have been medically discharged from the Army. Bush said that he was never made aware of this possibility and was not evaluated to determine his medical qualification for ROTC.

On April 16, 1993, the Board of Officers found that Cadet Bush had breached his ROTC contract by demonstrating an undesirable character trait of misconduct through his criminal conviction. The Board of Officers recommended that the defendant be disenrolled from the ROTC scholarship program as a result of this undesirable character trait of misconduct. The Board of Officers also declined to order Bush to active duty.

The finding of the Board of Officers was reviewed and approved for legal sufficiency by Administrative Law Officer Swallow. The recommendation of the Board of Officers to disenroll Bush from scholarship status was approved on August 3, 1993 by the Commander, U.S. Army ROTC Command. The Commander directed that Bush be disenrolled from scholarship status, but not be disenrolled from ROTC or honorably discharged from his enlisted status until Bush had made a full repayment.

The U.S. Army sent a letter dated August 10,1993, informing Bush of his Financial Assistance Record and providing him with the total amount spent in support of his educational assistance. The letter requested that Bush respond and choose a method of repayment. The letter specified that failure to respond within a 45-day time period would be considered a refusal to make repayment. Bush never responded. On December 22, 1998 Bush was advised by letter that his debt was being referred to the Department of Justice for collection enforcement. The total amount due, at this time, is $48,929.93 which includes the principal amount of $40,005.88, interest computed as January 1, 1999 of $4,679.11, penalty charges in the amount of $4,244,94, and additional interest rate of 3.01% per annum from January 1, 1999 until judgment.

Plaintiff, the United States, filed a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and a motion to dismiss the Plaintiffs counterclaims under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Defendant filed a cross motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and in support of the counterclaims.

II.

The Plaintiff argues that the Court should dismiss the Plaintiffs counterclaim regarding back pay pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or in the alternative Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).

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Bluebook (online)
247 F. Supp. 2d 783, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25251, 2002 WL 31941463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bush-ncmd-2002.