A recent petition for writ of certiorari at the United States Supreme Court is attracting some attention from those interested in military, national security, and legal policy. The case, Brown v. Wormuth, asks the Justices to determine what degree of deference the military should receive when courts review its actions.

At issue is the Deputy Secretary of the Army’s decision to deny Staff Sergeant Joshua Berry a posthumous Purple Heart award for injuries he sustained while fending off Nidal Hassan during the Fort Hood shooting. Then-President Obama declared the shooting an act of “workplace violence,” but Congress later declared it a “terrorist attack.”

Although the Army stands by its decision, former VA Secretary Robert Wilkie co-authored an article calling on the Justices to correct what he views as a manifest injustice to Staff Sergeant Berry.

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