Michaela Rose

Trinity Advocates, Inc

For decades, disabled veterans have suffered immeasurably under judicial creations developed as exceptions to the explicit protections afforded them by Congress's exercise of its enumerated military powers. State-law theories of estoppel and the reliance interests of the parties have been raised with a resounding clamor in an effort to prevent the self-evident and explicit preemptive laws from simply taking effect. But the swell of defiance does not make these parties any more correct nor can it insulate state courts from the constitutional rights of those who seek to regain and restore to themselves their earned entitlements. The passage of time and the din of dissension cannot erode the underlying structure guaranteeing the rights bestowed. The Supreme Court has recently expressed this sentiment in overturning more than a century of reliance on erroneous legal principles. McGirt v. Oklahoma, 140 S. Ct. 2452 (2020). There, Justice Gorsuch, writing for a majority stated: "Unlawful acts, performed long enough and with sufficient vigor, are never enough to amend the law. To hold otherwise would be to elevate the most brazen and longstanding injustices over the law, both rewarding wrong and failing those in the right." Id. at 2482. The federal statutes and regulations passed pursuant to Congress's enumerated military powers contain no allowance to the states to sequester veterans' disability benefits and force them to be paid over to any other individual. Rather, these benefits are (and always have been) explicitly protected from state control. Each day we are learning of veterans and active duty service members who need our help. They are alone and afraid as they face opposing counsel and courts hell-bent on depriving them of their federally secured rights. We are here to help, whether it is finding the right lawyers to defend them, experts and consultants to guide them, or simply educating them on their rights and how they should protect and preserve them.