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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! May 31, 2006 Military Justice - A Brief PrimerBy GreyhawkExapanding from a shorter entry at MilBlogs - an effort to explain what goes on during a military investigation. A recent high-profile news story reveals that in spite of the popularity of the television program "JAG" and the movie "A Few Good Men", most Americans have little understanding of the military justice system. In the interest of providing the tip of the iceberg of knowledge, here's a brief primer. Key documents defining the military justice system include the United States Constitution, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and the Manual for Courts Martial. If a crime has been committed (or suspected), an investigation is conducted under article 32 of the UCMJ. The purpose of that investigation - which normally concludes with a hearing, somewhat equivalent to a civilian grand jury investigation - is to determine the need for a court-martial (a military trial). The Fifth Amendment constitutional right to grand jury indictment is expressly inapplicable to the Armed Forces. In its absence, Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Section 832 of Title 10, United States Code), requires a thorough and impartial investigation of charges and specifications before they may be referred to a general court-martial (the most serious level of courts-martial). However, the accused may waive the Article 32 investigation requirement. The purpose of this pretrial investigation is to inquire into the truth of the matter set forth in the charges, to consider the form of the charges, and to secure information to determine what disposition should be made of the case in the interest of justice and discipline. The investigation also serves as a means of pretrial discovery for the accused and defense counsel in that copies of the criminal investigation and witness statements are provided and witnesses who testify may be cross-examined.Many news accounts of the investigation of Marines for possible crimes in Haditha declare that the investigation is complete - this is not true - and give the erroneous impression that guilt has been determined. But the outcome of the investigation (even if it includes full confessions from all parties) can only be that there is or is not sufficient evidence to convene a court-martial and determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. I'm not making any comments in this specific case. But I do mean to point out that from a legal perspective, guilt or innocence is yet to be determined. This can only be done in an actual trial. This may come as a shock to those who've been following some very high profile statements made on this case - which is why no one with any concern for the rule of law has made any such statements. Anyone who's been in service as long as I have has some experience with military justice. The military is society in microcosm, and if you work in an organization of several hundred people, chances are some are criminals. Some break laws unique to the military, others violate the established laws of society. Some go AWOL. Some beat their spouses. Some break speed limits. Some drive drunk. Some disobey orders. Some are thieves who bring government pens home from the office. Some commit murder. Some listen to pirated music or record football games without the express written consent of the National Football League. Some may even try to provide 'cover' for the crimes of others. If this were true only of the military we'd have quite a story. But it isn't. Other than AWOL and orders that's pretty much like your neighborhood, believe it or not. But when military members commit violent crimes, the fact that they are military has a prominent place in the story. Strangely, in the minds of many the fact that they've been investigated and prosecuted by the military seems like just another indicator of our brutality - they assume we need such a safeguard in our system because we are overly prone to such transgressions. (I won't go into all the details of why we need a separate justice system in this brief comment) So even in "doing the right thing" we are apt to be accused of additional violations of societal norms. That prejudice will be fueled by the media narrative - which will in some way or another build on the pre-existing mindset that proclaims it's the system, and not this innocent young person, that is at fault, and simultaneously express outrage that the same system is prosecuting the case. Add in the defense's relatively broad latitude in public discussion of the case, offer low-hanging journalistic fruit like "cover-up" or "persecution of only the junior troops" and the stage is set for a long and painful experience. In the background, in reality, less than perfect humans will do their best to judge their less than perfect fellows in a quest for an elusive concept called justice. Kudos to all who work within the military justice system for performing admirably under such adverse circumstances. Posted by Greyhawk / May 31, 2006 7:53 PM | Permalink 2 TrackBacks12 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
It is obviously the rule of judges that the Democrats prefer to the rule of law, contrary to their claims.
Thanks Greyhawk. That helps. You are very good at what you do.
Who would have ever thought that those who defend us would need us to defend them. God save us from the left and how about watching over our marines while your at it
You made clear and concise points on the radio. We need more people like you to defend our soldiers. People who spit on our soldiers should be ashame. Our military guys are the bravest!
Good post, it's important to note that while an Art 32 hearing is similar to a grand jury, it differs markedly in the fact that the accused (w/ counsel) can appear, present witnesses, cross-examine prosecution witnesses, etc.
In a typical grand jury proceeding, it's just the gov't and the defense isn't even allowed in.
Good laydown. Would suggest only one addition: that the UCMJ is embodied in 10 USC 801-946.
Way too many folks don't understand that the UCMJ is law, not just a collection of rules the military thought up.
Thanks Greyhawk. I wish we didn't have to talk or think about these things, but it is necessary to educate the public that there IS a process and the process needs to be respected before they rush to judgment.
Worry not. The fix is in. By waiting four months to start the, ahem, "investigation," the military allowed crucial evidence to be destroyed and lies to be coordinated.
There will be a long elaborate drama in which the military pretends to aggressively pursue truth and accountability, but the end result will be mostly acquittals and maybe a wrist-slap or two.
http://w3t.org/u/qbg
In the end, you'll be able to assure yourselves that there was no massacre and that it was all a figment of the left-wing's imagination. Military people call this sort of thing "slow-rolling," and the Pentagon has long has it down to a science.
*deep breath*...
(whispered under my breath: don't feed the trolls...dont feed the trolls...don't feed the trolls)
Wasn't the point of "A few good men" that it was only the heroic efforts of the defense attorney in cracking the crazy but entrenched Col. Nathan Jessep that prevented a cover-up? Wasn't the neophyte assigned to the case so that the two marines could be scapegoated? Of course that was fiction, but expecting such a movie to teach us that the military justice systems is flawless seems unreasonable.
Since we're on the subject, any thougths about the slap at the top brass that the "NCIS" finale delivered?
Thank you, Greyhawk, for explaining this in such a succinct manner. I haven't written about it yet, frankly, because I don't know what to say! What are the facts? The only people who know them are not talking. The only people that are talking, do not know the facts, or so it is my belief. Again, thank you for your service above and beyond...
The “investigations” that are currently going on are not Article 32 investigations / hearings. They can only occur after a military member has been “accused” of an offense. The ongoing investigations are equivalent to Army “Article 15-6” investigation. It is non-judicial; a command function to determine what happened and where to go from here.