SAVANNAH, Ga., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army can send a soldier to Iraq to face court-martial proceedings for allegedly threatening fellow troops in rap-song lyrics, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore said he would not get involved in a case being tried under military law.
Spc. Marc Hall, 34, of Coward, S.C., could be transferred to Kuwait and then to Iraq as early as Thursday, David Gespass, Hall's civilian attorney, told the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News.
Gespass had argued before the court for the Southern District of Georgia that Hall's transfer to Iraq, where his infantry unit is deployed, from Fort Stewart, Ga., violated his constitutional rights to a fair trial, the newspaper said.
Hall's charges stem from a rap song, "Stop Loss," that he wrote in July 2009, shortly after learning he would be "stop-lossed," or involuntarily extended in active duty.
Under the U.S. military's stop-loss policy, started during the first Persian Gulf War, many soldiers are sent to Iraq and Afghanistan -- a practice the U.S. Defense Department has asked the military branches to stop enforcing, the newspaper said.
In the song, Hall raps about walking up to soldiers in his unit and "surprising them all" with 30 rounds.
The Army says he also threatened other soldiers in conversations.
