Military Justice

Report Outline
Recent Attacks on Military Law
Development of U.S. Military Justice
Challenges Facing Servicemen's Courts
Special Focus

Recent Attacks on Military Law

New Questioning of Fairness in Military Courts

The fairness of military justice is being challenged more persistently today than at any time since the end of World War II. Stimulated by the grievances of draftees fighting an unpopular war, Americans are asking questions that go to the heart of a paradox: How much freedom must a soldier give up when he puts on a uniform in the name of defending freedom? Military courts, in particular, are objects of controversy. Do they protect or abrogate the citizen soldier's constitutional rights'? Are they dedicated to the pursuit of justice? Or are they a means of enforcing military discipline? On one hand, knowledgeable critics assert that U.S. military tribunals are draconian and that their real purpose is to carry out the wishes of commanders. But equally qualified authorities maintain that the military system of justice is at least as fair as its civilian counterpart and may even be superior in some respects.

If military justice is indeed defective in this country, it commends itself to public attention. Some three million American men and women in the armed forces are subject to it. There were more than 91,000 courts-martial in the 1970 fiscal year. Many thousands of servicemen have received long prison sentences under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Thousands more have received less-than-honor-able discharges at the hands of military tribunals—a fact that often hurts their ability to gain and hold employment outside the armed services.

More than anything else, a series of highly publicized trials by war dissenters in uniform focused attention on the military legal system. The trials included those of Capt. Howard B, Levy, an Army doctor who refused to teach medical techniques to Special Forces (Green Berets); 2nd Lt. Henry Howe Jr., who took part in an anti-war demonstration; Seaman Robert L. Priest and Pfc. Bruce Petersen, editors of underground newspapers; and the so-called Ft. Jackson Eight. Other significant cases included the Presidio stockade mutiny convictions.