My good friend Gene Fidell recently posted this thought: New York County Surrogate Gideon J. Tucker wrote 150 years ago: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” Here’s a thought about Congress at work in 2016. His note is in relation to major…
Well I see the FOIA site is up in Bergdahl per the MJ’s order. https://www.foia.army.mil/ReadingRoom/Detail.aspx?id=103 There’s the normal minutiae for early appellate exhibits, the EDN for example. Of most interest may be the DSM-5 diagnoses of: Schizotypal Disorder at the time of the offense, and that…
I have commented on this before–post-CAAF habeas corpus, but a new case from the 9th is time for a reminder. Narula v. Yakubisin (CO, NAVCONBRING Miramar), No. 15-55658 (9th Cir. 17 May 2016). It is common for the military appellant to think about federal court once their military appeal is…
There is an interesting issue in the UK about an outspoken general officer commenting on political matters. As you read the article below you’ll see that the UK is no different than the US in response to outspoken flag and general officers. Philip Hammond ‘tried to court-martial senior general’, new…
The CAAF took the following action last Friday. No. 16-0309/AR. U.S. v. Michael B. O’Connor. CCA 20130853. On consideration of the petition for grant of review of the decision of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals, and in light of the conflicting affidavits between Appellant and his trial…
The members selection process is often at issue in a court-martial. One of the common concerns is the selection based purely on rank–usually the very senior. So, CAAF is about to enter the discussion again based on a grant yesterday. No. 16-0391/MC. U.S. v. Emmanuel Q. Bartee. CCA 201500037. On…
The CAAF has decided United States v. Rogers, __ M.J. ___ (C.A.A.F. 2016) today. The issue under consideration was a challenge to a member–the senior member–for implied bias that was (as CAAF now says, wrongly) denied by the military judge. The issue and decisions are not so troubling; the whole…
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has been active recently in a number of grants of review. What is noteworthy has been the grant of three cases in which it was the client who raised an issue through a United States v. Grostefon pleading. This confirms my own…
Friend and colleague Cully Stimson has a piece on military justice practitioner professionalism, similar to some others he has put out recently. He is right on. Of course this is nothing new. I came on active duty as a navy judge advocate in January 1908. The topics Cully talks were a…
There are two ways a military prisoner gets out: serve to their minimum release date or get parole. Either way, the person is going to be placed into a strict form of post-release conditions. For those who get to their MRD they will go into the Mandatory Supervised Release Program. MSR…