Military justice
45 Articles
The Missing Kabul Drone Strike Report
"It is simply not credible that the entire investigative report must be withheld in order to protect (as one imagines the claim) sources and methods of intelligence-gathering."
Professional Criminal Prosecution Versus The Siren Song of Command: The Road to Improve Military Justice
An almost paragraph-by-paragraph critique of Jeh Johnson's essay opposing the Military Justice Improvement Act. Our author: Professor Rachel VanLandingham, Lt Col, USAF (ret.),…
What To Do About Lt. General (retired) Flynn: Military Justice and Civil-Military Relations Considerations
Flynn's recent conduct has raised new questions about retiree court-martial jurisdiction. Yevgeny Vindman and Dan Maurer make the legal and policy argument for a court-martial.…
Why We Prosecute Wartime Misconduct
President Trump never pardoned Robert Bales, despite a strong push to do so. Any clemency for him would have resulted in manifest injustice to not just Bales’ victims, but to…
The Next Judge: US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces’ Looming Vacancy
In 2011, I wrote an essay for the Journal of National Security Law and Policy titled, “The Next Judge.” Here’s the introduction: The filling of a judicial vacancy provides…
Military Personnel and the Putsch at the U.S. Capitol
If active duty, reserve, retired, or former military personnel participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, how should they be held accountable? Courts martial may be available for…
Can a Pardon Be a War Crime?: When Pardons Themselves Violate the Laws of War
Editor’s note: Originally published on May 25, 2019; with an author’s note published on Dec. 24, 2020. Author’s note, Dec. 24, 2020: Not all corrupt pardons…
Five Years On: Military Accountability and the Attack on the MSF Trauma Center in Kunduz
On the fifth anniversary of the tragic attack by the U.S. military on the Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, a former U.S. military legal adviser…
Asserting Their Jewish Identity: My Mother’s Testimony in the First Nazi War Crimes Trial, 75 Years Ago
A prosecutor in the Belsen Trial initially obscured the specific identity of the victims. That would change dramatically by the end.
Déjà Vu All Over Again: Racial Disparity in the Military Justice System
Fifty years ago, a task force seeking to determine the nature and extent of racial disparities in the U.S. military justice system, grappled with many of the same questions that…
A Solution in Search of a Problem: The Dangerous Invalidity of Divesting Military Commanders of Disposition Authority for Military Criminal Offenses
Introducing an Open Letter from former U.S. Military Commanders and Judge Advocates to the Committees on Armed Services of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
Who Should Decide: Prosecutorial Discretion and Military Justice
The American military has operated under a separate justice system since before the signing of the United States Constitution. The distinct character of military society drives…