Stephen Funk (born June 15, 1982) is a former

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Landing Support Specialist and

Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corp ...

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person ca ...

. He was the first person to publicly refuse to deploy in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Background

Stephen Funk decided to enlist in the

after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, signing a six-year contract in February 2002. Near the end of boot camp, he shot expert at the rifle range, at 200-, 300- and 500-yards. Despite this, his instructor told him that he would not shoot as well in combat; Funk later said, "I told him he was right, because I felt killing was wrong." Prior to enlisting, Funk had a background in social activism having attended an alternative high school called The Nova Project. He participated in protests against the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

in Seattle and the during the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in Los Angeles. His period of "unauthorized absence" lasted from February 9, 2003, to April 1, 2003. On April 1, 2003, Funk held a press conference at the main gate of San Jose Marine Reserve Base and turned himself over to military authorities. During the conference, Funk spoke to reporters and said "There is no way to justify war because you're paying with human lives." Just before being taken into custody. Funk had attempted to obtain

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

status and a discharge. His conscientious objector application was never reviewed, instead he was court-martialed. At the same time he applied for conscientious objector status, Funk also came out publicly as a gay man. In 2003, while imprisoned, he was named as one of

OUT Magazine ''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. ''Out'' was owned by Robert Hardman of Boston, its original investor, until 2 ...

's "Out 100".

Military punishment

Of the two charges Funk was brought up on, a military jury acquitted him on September 6, 2003, of

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

, but convicted him of the lesser charge of unauthorized absence. He had spent 47 days of unauthorized absence preparing his application for conscientious objection and was sentenced to six months imprisonment,

reduction in rank Reduction, reduced, or reduce may refer to: Science and technology Chemistry * Reduction (chemistry), part of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction in which atoms have their oxidation state changed. ** Organic redox reaction, a redox reac ...

from E-3 to E-1 and given a bad-conduct discharge.

Controversy

It is noteworthy that the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

punished him "for refusing to report to his unit during the Iraq war," during the period of his "unauthorized absence" (Feb 9, 2003 to April 1, 2003), which occurred ''before'' the May 22, 2003, adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483. (That resolution affirmed that the

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

had responsibility for

as the "occupying powers under unified command.") This sequence of events means that

punished Stephen Funk for refusing to "report to his unit during war" not sanctioned by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. This fact has major implications in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

: In an interview given on August 25, 2006, about the "2003 invasion of Iraq,... Benjamin B. Ferencz, an United States">American lawyer">Benjamin_B._Fer.html" ;"title="Benjamin_B._Ferencz.html" ;"title="Benjamin B. Ferencz">Benjamin B. Ferencz, an United States">American lawyer ],...said the United Nations Charter, United Nations charter, which was written after the carnage of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, contains a provision that no nation can use armed force without the permission of the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

." Ferencz is qualified to make comparisons to the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

because he, himself, was an investigator of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s after

and the Chief Prosecutor for the

Army at the

Einsatzgruppen Trial ''The United States of America vs. Otto Ohlendorf, et al.'', commonly known as the trial, was the ninth of the twelve " subsequent Nuremberg trials" for war crimes and crimes against humanity after the end of World War II between 1947 and 1948 ...

, one of the twelve military trials held by the U.S. authorities at

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. One of the legal principles used during those trials was Nuremberg Principle IV which deals with the responsibility of individuals. It states, "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." The

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

s and

principles A principle may relate to a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs or behavior or a chain of reasoning. They provide a guide for behavior or evaluation. A principle can make values explicit, so t ...

that were set during the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

have legal relevance to all subsequent cases, including that of Stephen Funk.

Aftermath

Stephen Funk was confined in the

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ( or ) is a United States Armed Forces, United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault training, an ...

Brig and served 5 months of a 6-month sentence. During his confinement, anti-war activists organized a major protest outside the base along with a bus tour of speakers traveling the east coast. It was coordinated with rallies in several major cities including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Paris, and London. Upon release Funk returned to the San Francisco Bay Area enrolling at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

to study international relations. Upon graduation,

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

, now a professor at the school, handed Funk his degree. He continued his peace activism becoming an honorary founding member of

Iraq Veterans Against the War About Face (formerly Iraq Veterans Against the War) is an advocacy group founded in 2004 of formerly active-duty United States military personnel, Iraq War veterans, War in Afghanistan (2001–present), Afghanistan War veterans, and other veteran ...

in 2004. Funk is also founder and creative director of Veteran Artists, an organization "founded and run by recent military veterans connecting other veterans with community resources to pursue artistic opportunities."

References

External links