Friendly fire in the air

If you shoot down a roughly $14 million dollar Russian fighter aircraft, you're either a national hero (if you're Ukrainian 😊) or you're a defendant facing criminal negligence charges (if you're a Russian pilot who instead of "shooting" his colleague's plane with a video camera during a training exercise, actually shot his real 30 millimeter cannon, taking down an SU-30 fighter, though the crew safely ejected). Russian pilots are apparently similar to those the world over -- the defendant is blaming his maintenance crew for not properly de-commissioning the cannon (despite his own preparatory failures).

Guantanamo Bay jury foreman who critiqued commissions identifies himself

The Navy captain and jury foreman who wrote a letter condemning the proceedings at Guantanamo Bay publicly identified himself.  Captain Scott B. Curtis explains he wrote the letter after hearing graphic testimony of U.S. personnel torturing Majid Khan. The letter, signed by six other panel members, also critiqued the commissions' legal framework using the same language critics have used for years. 

Captain Curtis' and his colleagues' critiques evoke the arguments of those who say the commissions' purpose is to hide the harsh interrogation techniques U.S. personnel engaged in, preventing the tortured to have their case heard in an open and public forum. To this author, there is some irony to military members sitting on these panels now echoing the arguments of the system's critics, vindicating those that believe the military commissions are inconsistent with American ideals of fairness and justice.  

Some of the proponents for the commissions had argued, in part, that the military commissions were necessary to maintain anonymity for jurors to preserve their safety. And yet, once actual jurors saw and heard of the abuses the commissions allow, they brushed aside those concerns and publicly rebuked the process. 

Reading Room

The latest issue of the U.S. Army's Military Law Review is now available online. Of particular interest is Major (Ret) Dwight S. Mears, Medals "Ridiculously Given"? The Authority to Award, Revoke, and Reinstate Military Decorations in Three Case Studies Involving Executive Clemency, 229 Mil. L. Rev. 381 (2021). Dr. Mears's deep dive into an obscure but important set of issues focuses on the Trump-era Lorance, Golsteyn, and Gallagher cases. Author of The Medal of Honor: The Evolution of America's Highest Military Decoration (2018), he argues (at 382) that "the limits of revocation authority should be further clarified by policy, statute, or both." 

Transparency (U.S. Marine Corps version)

Task & Purpose has posted an astounding public protest by editor Paul Sjoldra over the U.S. Marine Corps' indefensible withholding of the charge sheet (DD Form 458) in the case of United States v. Scheller. Global Military Justice Reform condemns the runaround Task & Purpose has chronicled. It is difficult to imagine a more effective way of undermining public confidence in the administration of justice.

If Task & Purpose pursues this matter, it should not content itself with the charge sheet but also demand the summarized record of trial, the audiotapes, and all motions and rulings by the military judge.

This would seem to be worth litigating in the Article III courts. Task & Purpose should also bring this to the attention of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Jan. 6 cases

Military.com's Steve Beynon and Konstantin Toropin have this detailed run-down on what has happened to the military personnel known to have been at the Capitol on January 6th. That was 10 months ago. Should these cases have moved along faster? Excerpt:

The most decisive response from military leadership so far came in the case of Army Sgt. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who was demoted to private and booted from the force in June. The discharge came almost half a year after his arrest on Jan. 17, according to Army records. Hale-Cusanelli is also the only defendant of the five to still be incarcerated pending his trial.

Personal photos surfaced of Hale-Cusanelli apparently mimicking Adolf Hitler. "As indicated by multiple co-workers, [Hale-Cusanelli] shaved his facial hair into a 'Hitler mustache,' which he wore on duty" while working at a Navy base in New Jersey, according to court filings.

Meanwhile, both of the officers arrested, Army Capt. Mark Sahady and Marine Corps Maj. Christopher Warnagiris, are still serving.