A timely, provocative account of how military justice has shaped American society since the nation’s beginnings. Historian and former soldier Chris Bray tells the sweeping story of military justice from the earliest days of the republic to contemporary arguments over using military courts to try foreign terrorists or soldiers accused of sexual assault. Stretching from the American Revolution to 9/11, Court-Martial recounts the stories of famous American court-martials, including those involving President Andrew Jackson, General William Tecumseh Sherman, Lieutenant Jackie Robinson, and Private Eddie Slovik. Bray explores how encounters of freed slaves with the military justice system during the Civil War anticipated the civil rights movement, and he explains how the Uniform Code of Military Justice came about after World War II. With a great eye for narrative, Bray hones in on the human elements of these stories, from Revolutionary-era militiamen demanding the right to participate in political speech as citizens, to black soldiers risking their lives during the Civil War to demand fair pay, to the struggles over the court-martial of Lieutenant William Calley and the events of My Lai during the Vietnam War. Throughout, Bray presents readers with these unvarnished voices and his own perceptive commentary. Military justice may be separate from civilian justice, but it is thoroughly entwined with American society. As Bray reminds us, the history of American military justice is inextricably the history of America, and Court-Martial powerfully documents the many ways that the separate justice system of the armed forces has served as a proxy for America’s ongoing arguments over equality, privacy, discrimination, security, and liberty.

Military Justice: Cases and Materials gives teachers a new and powerful tool to introduce students to military law while deepening their understanding of criminal law and procedure, comparative law, international law, and constitutional law. At a time when the tempo of military operations around the world seems to increase constantly and high-profile courts-martial dominate the headlines, this book gives students and teachers unprecedented the tools needed to analyze, understand, and evaluate worldwide military justice. With prosecutions arising from prisoner abuse, atrocities against civilians, and servicemembers' opposition to ongoing wars, the military justice system now has a prominence unmatched since the Vietnam era. This higher profile for courts-martial, combined with the difficult and fundamental legal issues raised by the military commissions, suggests that military courses will now be in great demand. This casebook provides the text for such a course. Its coverage of the U.S. court-martial and other systems of military criminal law provides a framework through which students can explore the role and operation of military justice within a democratic society. In an era of worldwide deployments, multi- national operations, and global terrorism, this book illuminates the interconnectedness of military justice systems through a far- ranging collection of judicial opinions, statutes, regulations, commentaries, and scholarship. While the materials presented draw heavily from the United States, most chapters also present materials from other jurisdictions to enhance students' appreciation of both the unique American experience and the availability of alternative approaches to military discipline, accountability, and punishment. International norms are also examined. Part I, Foundations, sets the stage by exploring the origins and purposes of military justice, pointing out the many sources of law that govern this area, analyzing the u

"This pamphlet contains a short history of the preparation of the Manual ... together with brief discussions of the legal and legislative considerations involved in the drafting of the book."--Pref.

This textbook comprehensively covers the modern military justice system under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The materials included come from every service within the Armed Forces, and show how the military justice system addresses all criminal offenses, ranging from minor infractions to serious offenses such as the misconduct of soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison. The text covers the jurisdiction of courts-martial; sources of military law; military offenses and defenses; pre-trial, trial, and appellate procedures; the role of judge advocates; non-judicial punishment and other alternatives to courts-martial; special forums such as boards of inquiry and military commissions for trying enemy belligerents; the relationship of courts-martial to state and federal courts; and much more. All chapters include policy questions about currently controversial issues. The text is appropriate for all students, whether or not they have had prior military experience. The Second Edition includes five new cases and addresses new legislation concerning special victims counsel; preliminary hearings; the role of commanders in referring and reviewing charges; mandatory minimum sentences for conviction of certain sex offenses; the offense of sodomy; and the good soldier defense.

Eleven years before Rosa Parks resisted going to the back of the bus, a young black second lieutenant, hungry to fight Nazis in Europe, refused to move to the back of a U.S. Army bus in Texas and found himself court-martialed. The defiant soldier was Jack Roosevelt Robinson, already in 1944 a celebrated athlete in track and football and in a few years the man who would break Major League Baseball’s color barrier. This was the pivotal moment in Jackie Robinson’s pre-MLB career. Had he been found guilty, he would not have been the man who broke baseball’s color barrier. Had the incident never happened, he would’ve gone overseas with the Black Panther tank battalion—and who knows what after that. Having survived this crucible of unjust prosecution as an American soldier, Robinson—already a talented multisport athlete—became the ideal player to integrate baseball. This is a dramatic story, deeply engaging and enraging. It’s a Jackie Robinson story and a baseball story, but it is also an army story as well as an American story.