Military Justice: A Guide to the Issues

by Lawrence J. Morris, Francis A. Gilligan

Overview

Public, press, and academic interest in the military justice system has increased over the past generation. This is a result of several high-profile trials (the Sergeant Major of the Army and Kelly Flinn, among many others), a popular TV show (even if it was Navy JAGs), and broader public attention to and interest in the military, stemming from the post-Cold War prominence of the military (Gulf War I, Balkans, and post-9/11 operations). In addition, some of the more prominent cases from the war in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib and detainee cases, as well as the GTMO military commissions, have kept military justice in the news. There are many misconceptions about the rudiments of the military justice system. Many perceive severity where there is none (though there are features that differ from the civilian system, sometimes unfavorably for the accused), and few are aware of its unique protections and features. Senators Lott and McConnell were not unique in the inaccurate perceptions they publicly stated about military justice during hearings on military tribunals. This volume would accomplish two main purposes: (1) provide comprehensive, accurate, and current information about the military justice system and related disciplinary features, written in laymen's language; and (2) explain the system through some illustrative or engaging anecdotes (e.g., the trials of Billy Mitchell, William Calley, and the World War II Nazi saboteurs, whose capture and trial provide the basis for today's Guantanamo-based trials of suspected terrorists).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275993665
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/26/2010
Series:	Contemporary Military, Strategic, and Security Issues
Pages:	211
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Lawrence J. Morris has 23 years for experience as an advocate, teacher, and senior attorney in the Army's 2,000-member law firm. He now serves as the Chief Public Defender in the U.S. Army.

Table of Contents

Foreword Colonel (Retired) Francis A. Gilligan ix

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Why a Military Justice System: An Introduction to the Theory and History of American Military Justice 1

Chapter 2 Founding of the Republic to Modern Times: Military Justice Develops Alongside the Professional Military 14

Chapter 3 Basics of the Military Justice System: Structure and Levels of Military Courts 34

Chapter 4 Basics of the Military Justice System: The Investigative and Pretrial Processes 47

Chapter 5 Basics of the Military Justice System: Defining Criminal Conduct in a Unique Society 63

Chapter 6 Basics of the Military Justice System: The Trial and Appellate Processes 90

Chapter 7 Implementing the Uniform Code of Military Justice: A Generation of Change 122

Chapter 8 There's More to Military Justice than Courts-Martial: Nonjudicial Punishment and Administrative Separations 148

Chapter 9 Back to the Future: Military Commissions to Try War Criminals 174

Glossary 201

Bibliography 207

Index 209