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Saturday, August 28, 2021

Semper Fidelis?

"In a post five hours after he was relieved of command, [LtCol Stuart] Scheller [of the U.S. Marine Corps] said that after having had time to process the situation, and having had many Marines agree with him, he offered this: 'If you all agree … then step up. They only have the power because we allow it. What if we all demanded accountability?'”

From this article in the Washington Post

Here is the video from LtCol Scheller's Facebook page. Some questions that come to mind:

  1. Which punitive article(s) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice come to mind, and how would you evaluate the government's prospects for obtaining a conviction?
  2. If you were this officer's commander, how would you dispose of the charges?
  3. If the officer's commander elects to refer any charge to a court-martial or hold office hours (non-judicial punishment), and you were White House Counsel, what advice would you give President Joe Biden?
  4. If the case went to a court-martial and you were defense counsel, what motion(s) would you make, and how would you gauge your chances for success?
  5. If the facts set forth in the article are correct and the officer pleads guilty, what sentence would you adjudge?
  6. If you were a betting person, what odds would you give that this officer will run for elective office?
  7. If you were President, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Navy, Commandant of the Marine Corps, a Senator, or a Member of Congress, what, if anything, should you say or do about this case?
Comments are respectfully invited. Real names only, please. Anonymous comments will not be posted.

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2 comments:

  1. John ByronAugust 29, 2021 at 5:45 AM

    Is there a UCMJ prohibition against sepuku?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eugene R. FidellAugust 29, 2021 at 7:04 AM

    The 2019 Manual for Courts-Martial observes: "Bona fide suicide attempts should not be charged as criminal offenses. When making a determination whether the injury by the Servicemember was a bona fide suicide attempt, the convening authority should consider factors including, but not limited to, health conditions, personal stressors, and DoD policy related to suicide prevention." ¶¶ 7.c., 107.c. (Discussion). See also United States v. Caldwell, 72 M.J. 137 (C.A.A.F. 2013), https://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/newcaaf/opinions/2012SepTerm/12-0353.pdf.

    ReplyDelete

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