Jason Pearce

I have received some wonderful feedback and advice regarding my appeal of the Peace Corps’ decision to send me home. One friend in particular found a DC Federal District case involving a Peace Corps volunteer who was terminated for expressing his political views. Here is his email and an excerpt from that case:

Jason, Below is language from a DC Federal District case involving the termination of a Peace Corps volunteer. In this particular case, the individual was expressing political views related to the US military intervention in Grenada, while stationed in the Dominican Republic.

“Peace Corps policy does not prohibit private speech by its volunteers on matters of political expression, although volunteers are admonished to portray their opinions as their own, and not as representative of the Peace Corps or the U.S. Government’s position. … It is only in situations … where there has been a direct threat to the interest of the Peace Corps, that speech is prohibited; thus, the policy is narrowly tailored to restrict speech no more than is necessary to protect a compelling government interest.” Wood v. Ruppe, 659 F.Supp. 403, 410-11 (D.D.C. 1987).

As I had suggested earlier, this case indicates that the Peace Corps has the same burden as any other federal agency in its efforts to restrict Free Speech. In particular, there must be a substantial governmental interest, and the restriction must be the least restrictive means.

I can’t tell you how pleased I was to have someone find some legal precedent regarding my case. While I don’t imagine that I’ll take my case to court, it will be very useful to reference prior court rulings in my appeal to the Peace Corps.

My friend then offers me the following advice regarding the actions that I should take.

I took some time to read through the correspondence that you posted. Here are my thoughts and advice:

1. Request all relevant documents and information contained in your personnel file relating to the decision to terminate your affiliation.
2. Write a non-confrontational appeal that focuses on the objective facts. (i.e. You were asked to restrict access, and you complied in a timely manner.)
3. Indicate that restrictions on speech are not clearly proscribed in any Peace Corps document, other than to be sensitive and refrain from political commentary; it appears from what I’ve seen that you complied with this. I’d avoid from making too strong of 1st amendment claim here, as they won’t want to admit that they are violating your free speech rights, and then reinstate you. If you leave them wiggle room by suggesting that any restrictions were not clearly conveyed, than they can view it as a “mutual misunderstanding”.
4. The most confrontational I would be, is with respect to Brown individually. I’d use the phrase “arbitrary and capricious” to describe his conduct.

That is my advice if you want to be reinstated.

Now, if you want to drop a fire in the hole, and head for cover, there are a few other options I’d consider. First, I would look into your political contacts. Second, there is always the route of public embarrassment. You have the media experience, contacts, and know how to really disparage the Peace Corps. Third, a letter from someone on good legal letterhead is always fun too.

If I can be of any help or if you want to bounce anything off me, feel free to write. Best of luck Jason.

Oh the possibilities. Thanks so much for the advice. And thanks a bunch for finding the Wood v. Ruppe case.

In addition to sleeping, eating, taking hot showers, and playing video games on my Xbox; I’ve spent the last two weeks organizing my case to appeal the Guyana country director’s decision to terminate my service early. While I haven’t decided to appeal his decision yet, it seems likely that I will.

In typical fashion, I have extensively organized information regarding my case and have placed it online for you to review. I hope to receive some comments and feedback from you before I submit my appeal to the DC office. I fortunate to have a lot of smart and wise friends, so your input is helpful.

Here is where you will find my Case for Appeal. You’ll need a username and password, so here they are:

LOCATION: https://net.jasonpearce.com/peacecorps/cos/
USERNAME: closeofservice
PASSWORD: firstamendment

There is a lot of information here, I know. So if you are just wanting a summary of my case, click here. Thanks again for your input.

This week I spent some time in contact with the Peace Corps office in DC. While I wish I could give you some promising news on my case, I’m afraid it’s rather bleak. Here is the story…

On August 27, 2002, I called the Peace Corps Office of Placement to be considered for re-enrollment. I did not speak with anyone directly, but left a message asking to be called back.

Having received no response from the Peace Corps, I gave the Office of Placement another call on September 3, 2002. This time I was able to speak with Sylvie Mortimer of the Office of Placement, Business Desk. Sylvie was the placement officer who extended me my invitation in February 2002.

Sylvie was unaware that I had returned and said that she would have to do some research about my case; talk to Earl Brown, the Guyana country director; and talk to Rita Jimenez, the country desk officer, South America Desk. I told her I understood.

I then asked about the timeline and how long it might take for me to receive a new assignment, if one was granted. She said that she has only two IT assignments available in the winter and both require a fluency in Spanish. Other than that, it wouldn’t be until the Spring 2003. This was disappointing news.

The following day, Sylvie left me an even more disappointing voicemail. While the news was discouraging, she was pleasant and helpful. Here is what she said:

September 4, 2002 (3:52 p.m.)
Hi. This message is for Jason Pearce. This is Sylvie Mortimer [Office of Placement, Business Desk] from the Peace Corps calling back. I talked to you yesterday. My extension is (202) 692-1854. You can also dial the 800 number, extension 1854, to reach me.

I just wanted to let you know that I followed up a little bit with Earl [Earl Brown, Peace Corps Guyana Country Director] and with Rita [Rita Jimenez, Country Desk Officer, South America Desk] and got more of the whole story. So I just wanted to talk with you about it and let you know what your options are at this point, which is basically just like any other early termination.

You have to wait one year before reapplying to the Peace Corps, and to do that, you have to go through a recruiting office. And you will also have to get a reference from someone in Guyana. We have all of the other documentation of what happened in the file.

So feel free to give me a call back if you have questions about this. But this is defiantly our policy and I wanted to let you know as soon as possible so you didn’t have your hopes up of being re-invited somewhere else very soon.

So feel free to give me a call if you have any questions. Bye bye.

Determined, I sent Sylvie the following email, for I believe that as an Early Termination/Interrupted Service Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I have the right to request for reinstatement, re-enrollment, or transfer.

—–Original Message—–
From: Jason Pearce
Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2002
To: Sylvie Mortimer
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Request for reinstatement, re-enrollment, or transfer

Sylvia,

Thank you for your prompt reply regarding my request for re-enrollment. Your thoughtful timeliness was appreciated.

If I understand your voicemail correctly, you are saying it is Peace Corps policy that volunteers who have received early termination must wait one year before reapplying. And should an early-terminated volunteer choose to reapply after that one-year period, they would have to submit a new application through a Regional Recruitment Office.

Please let me know if I misunderstood your message, for perhaps I did. As I?m sure you would agree, the vast amount of Peace Corps policies, literature, and guidelines can be daunting and confusing.

What I have found, however, indicates that I could be considered for re-enrollment without having to submit a new application. Here’s what I’ve found:

————————————–
PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER HANDBOOK
Under some circumstances, an RPCV may re-enroll for another term without having to submit a new application. Re-enrollment is possible if:

• Within the past two years, the RPCV completed service (COS) or has his/her service terminated early for medical reasons or due to exceptional circumstances beyond his or her control; and
• The RPCV has particular skills or experience requested by host countries which are not sufficiently available from current applications.

————————————–

According to Earl Brown’s August 21, 2002, memo, I was given an Early Termination/Interrupted Service per MS 284, 5.0, stating, “The host country (or other cooperating agency to which the volunteer is assigned) requests that the volunteer be removed from service for reasons that would not consist grounds for administrative separation.”

So I turn to MS 284, 5.0 to see what it says. It reads:

————————————–
MS 284: EARLY TERMINATION OF SERVICE

5.0 Interrupted Service
A Volunteer or Trainee may be separated with interrupted service status if the Country Director determines that circumstances beyond the control of the V/T make it necessary for the V/T to leave his or her present assignment. Because the nature of circumstances leading to interrupted service are beyond the V/T’s control, interrupted service should not be used in lieu of administrative separation. All travel options under paragraph 8.0 are open to V/Ts who are separated with interrupted service status, but not in particular that 8.1.3 “Field Exception to Direct and Immediate Return” may be appropriate.

5.1 Grounds for Interrupted Service
Interrupted service may be appropriate if:

[This is the only applicable reason]
There is no viable assignment in country of assignment for which the V/T is qualified.

A V/T who has been separated with interrupted service status may seek reinstatement or re-enrollment to Peace Corps service or may seek transfer to another country.

————————————–

So if I understand all of this correctly, as an Early Termination/Interrupted Service (per MS 284, 5.0) Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), I may seek reinstatement or re-enrollment to Peace Corps service or may seek transfer to another country without having to submit a new application. This is what I am requesting.

If I am not eligible for reinstatement or re-enrollment to Peace Corps service or may not seek transfer to another country without having to submit a new application, please explain why. If there are relevant Peace Corps policies that I am missing, please provide them as well.

Thank you again for your attention to my request for reinstatement, re-enrollment, or transfer; it is kindly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jason A. Pearce

I imagine that my email will likely pass Earl and Rita’s desks before I hear her reply. I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I took care of some other Peace Corps business today by mailing my no-fee passport back to their office. I also asked for them to send me a copy of my Volunteer Description of Service (DOS) Statement, the official Peace Corps record of service for former Volunteers. I was supposed to receive this letter at my close of service but did not. I’m interested to see what it says.

Here’s another email that I just had to share. It shows some of the frustrations that the volunteers are having with the Peace Corps hypocrisy. I removed the volunteer’s name for privacy purposes.

Subject: “RADAR”
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002

Well i’m probably on E.B.’s “radar” now but I did want to fill you in on a meeting I had with him a couple of weeks ago (for those of you who don’t have email regularly – this was shortly after Jason was sent home).

I confronted him about the contradiction of web photos displayed and a newspaper article [found here]…. what is the difference?

Basically, with all the talk of the Ofoto (not OTOFOTO – teehee) and personal web page information reprimandment – I asked Earl “where did i sign that I could have my photo released on the front page of the Guyana newspaper (which is also online)?”

He responded with “that is NOT the same thing – we hired someone, we invited them to the swearing in ceremony – and that was their job, to take photos” I replied with “you still didn’t answer my question – where did i sign off to have my photo released?” “i need some clarification because i surely don’t understand what is the difference among a newspaper and the Internet”

He of course didn’t give me a straight answer and rebuked with “well you’re obviously upset that Jason left, but you shouldn’t be mad at me….blah blah blah” I of course said “i’m not even talking about Jason – this is about photo clarification”

He was extremely defensive and mad I was even bringing this up to him – so i said “i’m sorry are you mad at me? You seem defensive and I just need some clarification on this matter – i don’t quite understand the difference” I was rather amused with how it went – me: calm; E.B.: speechless and babbling with annoyance.

I also brought it up that I felt that it’s a big safety and security issue to have all 23 of our site attachments published on a program that could be easily dispersed. He responded with “oh…no…..those were only given to those who were invited to the swearing in” I said “you don’t think it could be handed to one person, which would hand it to another and it could end up in the trash and then someone could pick it up….it’s a safety/security issue.”

Again, it was a rather intersting conversation and I got no real answer – just an ear full of nonsense. So i just wanted to share that with all of you….afterall we are all going thru this journey together :)

Maybe it was unnecessary – but I strongly believe that someone as our Country Director shouldn’t be so contradicting and think it’s okay. There’s a lot going on and perhaps we don’t know everything (like how other volunteers are being sent home, besides Jason) but I also think we should stand up for what we believe. “So that’s my story and i’m sticking to it”

Hope you’re all well and life is in bloom….

Well said. Most of all, I really liked this statement: “I strongly believe that someone as our Country Director shouldn’t be so contradicting and think it’s okay.”

Many of my colleagues felt that I was singled out. For there are other Guyana volunteers who maintain websites, online photo albums, and listserves. And that’s just in Guyana. Worldwide, there must be several hundered, if not thousands of online sites, communities, photo albums, and chat rooms relating to the Peace Corps.

I, however, am the only one that I know of who has been sent home because of it. Thanks for pressing the issue.

I really miss some of the friends I made in Guyana. I just got a great email from Patrick, one of the IT volunteers that I really enjoyed hanging out with.

He kids that his host mom Norma, who loved to feed the two of us, is concerned that I might not be getting enough to eat back here in the states. Then again, he might not be kidding because it wouldn’t surprise me if she was worring about me. She and her husband Henry were great. They really took care of us.

Patrick also vents a few funny frustrations regarding what it’s like to work as a Peace Corps volunteer. What’s funny about his situation is that his conterpart was expecting two IT volunteers to be stationed at their site. Instead, they just got one – Patrick – and were concerned that there would be too much for him to do. Read his email and you’ll see why its funny.

Jason, I say take the job and email Earl your new title.

Norma came by this last weekend. She is worried that you will not get food in the states. I told her that you will be ok.

I started my job on Mon. Guest how many students I have? I have ZZZZZZZero student as of now. I am not sure what I will be teaching. We have meetings but I only understand .1% of it.

Anna and I will have a Banks beer(well, I will have sveral) in your honor.
–PAtrick

Patrick, I hope you get some students soon, for someone in the Peace Corps office might get the notion to send you home due to the loss of a “viable assignment in-country for which you could serve.” Thanks for the email pal.