“Racism has long corrupted American military justice – famously exemplified by the 1917 Houston riots, which resulted in the Army’s summary execution of 19 African American soldiers after sham trials. In 2019, the Government Accountability Office found that in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, black service members “were about twice as likely as white servicemembers to be tried in general and special courts-martial.”
Such disparities still exist within the American military’s criminal justice and disciplinary systems, and demand action.
This is precisely why the National Institute of Military Justice, HOFSTRA University – Maurice A. Deane School of Law, and Southwestern Law School’s Armed Forces Law Society are co-hosting this important event.