A Richmond man’s victory in the United States Supreme Court is expected to help hundreds of thousands of veterans across the country.
When the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Rudisill versus McDonough, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson used a simple analogy to explain the case. Just because military veterans earned the right to wear a red hat does not mean they haven’t also earned the right to wear a blue hat.
David DePippo is a lawyer who worked on the case, and he says vets should be entitled to all the higher ed benefits they’ve earned.
"Nothing in the statute requires these types of veterans to throw away their red hat or wear it out, if you will, before they can put the blue one on. Instead, they have both hats," DePippo says. "They're earned them both."
Timothy McHugh is a lawyer who worked on the case, and he says the Veterans Administration was trying to argue that vets were not able to earn a second hat.
"And that flies in the face of the long history of GI bills since World War II," says McHugh. "Congress has always let folks keep and retain and use the one they earned previously and have the red hat and then later get a blue hat if they want. So, that's what I think Justice Jackson was really trying to capture with that very simple analogy."
The justices sided with the Richmond vet in a six to two vote, although supporters say they'll continue to watch the Veterans Administration to make sure they pay for all the higher ed benefits that have been earned.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
