SB 901: The military: eligibility.

Existing law establishes within state government a Military Department that includes, among other things, the office of the Adjutant General, the California National Guard, and the State Guard. Existing law generally governs the administration of the military, including its enlisted persons and officers. Existing law provides that an enlisted person may be discharged from the California National Guard under honorable, general, or undesirable conditions without a court-martial and requires a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge to be awarded only by a court-martial. Existing law specifies the causes for discharge of an enlisted person from the California National Guard and provides the conditions for the Governor or the Adjutant General to discharge an enlisted person. Existing law authorizes the discharge of an officer from the California National Guard only by sentence of a general court-martial and approval by the Governor. Existing law prohibits a person from being commissioned or enlisted in the State Guard if the person is not a citizen of the United States or has not declared their intent to become a citizen of the United States or has been expelled from a military or naval organization, as specified.

The bill would specify that a person is not eligible to commission or enlist in the California National Guard or State Guard if that person actively participates in, among other things, advocating for, or engaging in, the use of unlawful force, unlawful violence, or other illegal means to deprive an individual of their rights, as specified. This bill would require an officer or enlisted person to be discharged from the State Guard under undesirable conditions, or receive an other than honorable discharge from the California National Guard, if that person actively participates in that same conduct.