Friday, March 15, 2024

Short-term punishment units in the World War II Wehrmacht

This article by Mel Hecker and Geoffrey P. Megargee from volume 4 of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945 (Indiana U. Press 2022), tells the tale. Fifteen hours' hard work per day in summer; 12 in winter. The alternatives were grimmer.

An era of change

"It is true that the '[Courts of Criminal Appeals (CCAs)] are presumed to know the law and [to] follow it.' United States v. Chin, 75 M.J. 220, 223 (C.A.A.F. 2016). However, this can be a hazardous legal path to tread when, as here, the CCAs are applying a new statutory provision. We have entered an era where there are many changes afoot in the military justice system. Mischief will result if this Court fails not only to provide crisp, clear guidance to the CCAs about the practical effects of those changes, but also if it fails to ensure that the CCAs are scrupulously adhering to the legal and analytical obligations that those changes have placed upon them."

Ohlson, C.J., concurring in part & dissenting in part, United States v. Flores (C.A.A.F. Mar. 14, 2024), at 14. Judge M. Tia Johnson joined in the opinion. [H/T to CDR Phil Cave across the pier.]

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

S. Korea shifts to civilian prosecutions

Reuters reports that: Sex crimes and homicides committed by members of South Korea's military will be tried in civilian courts under a new law passed on Tuesday, sparked by multiple scandals and victim suicides.

Activists and victims had accused South Korea's powerful military of standing in the way of previous efforts to reduce the power commanders have over the process, but reform efforts gathered steam https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-abuse-military-idCAKCN2E60T6 after a series of deaths and prominent crimes.

Under the revised Military Court Act, all sex crimes, as well as violent crimes such as homicides, will be tried from the start at civilian courts, rather than courts martial.

Military courts will be consolidated, while military police and prosecutors will be placed under the defence minister and the chiefs of each service branch in an effort to reduce the influence of commanders.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Do we mean what Art. 88, UCMJ says?

If the U.S. Congress does not want former military officers wading into the political fray unless they formally declare their candidacy for elected office, then current Article 88 UCMJ provisions concerning criticism of the president should be enforced, rather than be dead letter law for retirees. Otherwise, active-duty military members will feel empowered to denounce political leadership due to the norm-erosion of recently retired military leaders criticizing American leaders. If rule of law and its credibility matter in modern society, retired military officers should be legally required to resign their commissions before entering into influential political conversations either through elected office or serving as political appointees, much like Dwight Eisenhower did prior to running for president in 1952 (Smith, 2012). Absent their formal departure from military affiliation, military retirees should keep their politics personal; not public and remain above the political fray. Whereas the president is bucking norms but applying the law, the generals are applying presidential norms but bucking apolitical military norms and military law. This distinction may be uncomfortable, but again, abiding to the written laws and rules is what keeps the “soul” of an apolitical military protected, helping keep partisanship out of civil–military relations.

Excerpt from Ryan Burke and Jahara Matisek, Trump(ing) Tradition: Old Laws, New Norms and the Danger to Civil-Military Relations, Armed Forces & Society (2024) (H/T to Cdr. Phil Cave)