A federal judge has struck down the military's policy of denying commissions to HIV-positive service members in a lawsuit filed in 2018.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled Wednesday that the Department of Defense must reconsider Nicholas Harrison's application to become a JAG officer for the D.C. National Guard without taking into account his HIV-positive status. The ruling also applies to “any other asymptomatic HIV-positive service member with an undetectable viral load.”
The lawsuit, originally filed several years ago, was brought by Harrison, who joined the Army in 2000 at 23. According to his complaint, Harrison left active duty for the reserves after three years as a sergeant to focus on college. He subsequently earned both a bachelor's and law degree while with the Oklahoma Guard.
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While in law school, Harrison says he deployed twice — to Afghanistan and Kuwait. The latter deployment came before he could sit for his bar exam.
After returning from Kuwait in 2012, court documents say that he tested positive for HIV.
“Sgt. Harrison was immediately placed on antiretroviral combination therapy, and soon thereafter, he had an undetectable viral load,” the complaint said. “He has been virally suppressed or had an undetectable viral load ever since that time,” it added.
In 2013, after being accepted to the…
