Here there be train wrecks . . .

To be sure, there are some mainstream pundits who have expressed disagreement with [Secretary of Defense Lloyd J.] Austin’s decision to cancel the plea bargain. But none of them question the very notion that a retired military general is making a major decision in a case involving criminal justice. That’s because the mainstream press, along with many Americans, has come to accept the normality and permanence of the judicial system that the Pentagon established in Cuba after the 9/11 attacks.

But the fact is that Austin’s role in a criminal prosecution is weird — extremely weird. A retired military general serving as U.S. Secretary of Defense has no more legitimate role in America’s criminal-justice system than he does in America’s public-school system.

From this Future of Freedom Foundation blog post by Jacob G. Hornberger.