Justice vs the UCMJ
Michelle Malkin had this column on Townhall.com today.
"Did you know there are seven young Marines and a Navy corpsman sitting in a military brig right now in leg and wrist shackles -- despite the fact that they've not been charged with any crime?
The men are in solitary confinement, locked in 8'x8' cells at San Diego's Camp Pendleton, as investigators probe an April 26 incident involving the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They are behind bars 23 hours a day; family members can only see them through inch-thick Plexiglas. Military blabbermouths have told the press that the service members are suspected of kidnapping and shooting a man in the Iraqi town of Hamdaniya. The Iraqi man's family reportedly came forward seeking payment for his death as media hysteria set in over the separate alleged atrocity in Haditha."
There is one major fault with Ms. Malkin's post....she assumes that we are dealing with the regular justice system, however we are not. We are dealing with the UCMJ - the Uniform Code of Military Justice and in the UCMJ there is no such thing as innocent until proven guilty! The UCMJ exists to make sure that there is UNIFORMITY in the treatment of soldiers, airmen and sailors (hereafter referred to as "soldiers") that are accused of crimes, regardless of rank. The UCMJ has very strict guidelines as to how an accused "soldier" is dealt with - from accusation to detention to trial. The detention of the soldiers that Ms. Malkin decries is well within the guidelines of the UCMJ as detailed here.
"Any person subject to this chapter charged with an offense under this chapter shall be ordered into arrest or confinement, as circumstances may require; but when charged only with an offense normally tried by a summary court-martial, he shall not ordinarily be placed in confinement. When any person subject to this chapter is placed in arrest or confinement prior to trial, immediate steps shall be taken to inform him of the specific wrong of which he is accused and to try him or to dismiss the charges and release him. "
Now I don't know a whole lot about the case, other than what is in Ms. Malkin's column, however according to the column it does appear that the "soldiers" have been informed of the specific wrong that they have been accused of and are thus "legally" detained under the UCMJ.
"Innocent until proven guilty? Justice for all? Benefit of the doubt? These are apparently foreign concepts when it comes to Americans in uniform being held on American soil."
Not under the UCMJ as any soldier (including the Logical Husband who served back in the 1980's) will tell you. When you sign the dotted line (of your military contract) you become US Government issue and your life is lived at the pleasure of the US Military! As a military spouse, I bristled (at first) at the notion that some strange man could come into my house at any hour of the day or night and inspect said house and it if was not clean enough or the socks were not folded "properly" (according to the military) my husband could receive demerits that would go against his work record! OR WORSE....if contraband was found....there is no search warrant - no Miranda process in the UCMJ! Every soldier, airman, sailor and their spouses are painfully aware of that fact of military life. Is it fair? HECK NO! However, when you give a 20 something a gun and train him/her hundreds of ways to kill a person, you have to instill the discipline needed to never use those skills unless they are given the direct order to do so!
As the spouse of a former military member, I fully understand and appreciate Ms. Malkin's passion for our servicemen and women. It is truly appreciated that we have such a vocal defender against the likes of Rep. John Murtha and the drive by media. However, as politicized as the war has become, the military must enforce the UCMJ in this manner so that no accusations of cover-up or malfeasance can be made against the military as a whole. Is it right? No - no American should ever have his or her name slimed as is happening to these "soldiers", however it is perfectly legal and proper under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
"Did you know there are seven young Marines and a Navy corpsman sitting in a military brig right now in leg and wrist shackles -- despite the fact that they've not been charged with any crime?
The men are in solitary confinement, locked in 8'x8' cells at San Diego's Camp Pendleton, as investigators probe an April 26 incident involving the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They are behind bars 23 hours a day; family members can only see them through inch-thick Plexiglas. Military blabbermouths have told the press that the service members are suspected of kidnapping and shooting a man in the Iraqi town of Hamdaniya. The Iraqi man's family reportedly came forward seeking payment for his death as media hysteria set in over the separate alleged atrocity in Haditha."
There is one major fault with Ms. Malkin's post....she assumes that we are dealing with the regular justice system, however we are not. We are dealing with the UCMJ - the Uniform Code of Military Justice and in the UCMJ there is no such thing as innocent until proven guilty! The UCMJ exists to make sure that there is UNIFORMITY in the treatment of soldiers, airmen and sailors (hereafter referred to as "soldiers") that are accused of crimes, regardless of rank. The UCMJ has very strict guidelines as to how an accused "soldier" is dealt with - from accusation to detention to trial. The detention of the soldiers that Ms. Malkin decries is well within the guidelines of the UCMJ as detailed here.
"Any person subject to this chapter charged with an offense under this chapter shall be ordered into arrest or confinement, as circumstances may require; but when charged only with an offense normally tried by a summary court-martial, he shall not ordinarily be placed in confinement. When any person subject to this chapter is placed in arrest or confinement prior to trial, immediate steps shall be taken to inform him of the specific wrong of which he is accused and to try him or to dismiss the charges and release him. "
Now I don't know a whole lot about the case, other than what is in Ms. Malkin's column, however according to the column it does appear that the "soldiers" have been informed of the specific wrong that they have been accused of and are thus "legally" detained under the UCMJ.
"Innocent until proven guilty? Justice for all? Benefit of the doubt? These are apparently foreign concepts when it comes to Americans in uniform being held on American soil."
Not under the UCMJ as any soldier (including the Logical Husband who served back in the 1980's) will tell you. When you sign the dotted line (of your military contract) you become US Government issue and your life is lived at the pleasure of the US Military! As a military spouse, I bristled (at first) at the notion that some strange man could come into my house at any hour of the day or night and inspect said house and it if was not clean enough or the socks were not folded "properly" (according to the military) my husband could receive demerits that would go against his work record! OR WORSE....if contraband was found....there is no search warrant - no Miranda process in the UCMJ! Every soldier, airman, sailor and their spouses are painfully aware of that fact of military life. Is it fair? HECK NO! However, when you give a 20 something a gun and train him/her hundreds of ways to kill a person, you have to instill the discipline needed to never use those skills unless they are given the direct order to do so!
As the spouse of a former military member, I fully understand and appreciate Ms. Malkin's passion for our servicemen and women. It is truly appreciated that we have such a vocal defender against the likes of Rep. John Murtha and the drive by media. However, as politicized as the war has become, the military must enforce the UCMJ in this manner so that no accusations of cover-up or malfeasance can be made against the military as a whole. Is it right? No - no American should ever have his or her name slimed as is happening to these "soldiers", however it is perfectly legal and proper under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
posted by The Lady Logician at
8:27 PM
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