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Statement of Purpose
Founded by veterans in 1999, the Military Justice Institute (MJI) is a nonprofit group exposing brutal punishment policies in the Armed Forces. In contrast to judicial reforms achieved throughout NATO (except the USA), it is a national disgrace that our military: (a) Lacks any uniformity, whatsoever, in the prosecution of offenders. (b) Has stiffened sentences since 1980. (c) Has NATO's highest percentages of dishonorably discharged and incarcerated GI's. (d) Lags NATO with poorly funded and ineffective rehabilitation programs. (e) Allows high-ranking officers to retire "honorably" -- despite being found guilty of crimes for which low-ranking GI's are routinely court-martialed. (f) Overpunishes personnel for adultery (not a crime in Israel's army), refusing anthrax shots (not a crime in Britain's army), and other minor miscreance. The media exposed politicians who flouted military regulations as college youths and got away with serious crimes. Today's soldiers are well aware of these double standards. Morale has sunk so low that Army and Navy desertions have hit record levels. Despite these facts, the Pentagon has done almost nothing to improve justice for real soldiers. The 1.4 million men and women comprising today's force -- who serve on active duty for many years, fight our wars, attend difficult combat schools, and earn rank the hard way -- often lose everything over a few episodes of minor misconduct. Since the 1970's, military commanders have become much more unforgiving, impersonal, and self-oriented. Mirroring the "Me Generation," they have allowed overzealous rules and regulations to overtake human reasoning and compassion. This is not progress but a step backward, as the next few examples illustrate. In the Fifties, Steve McQueen (the famous actor) never made Corporal because he was often demoted for AWOL, disorderly conduct and drunkenness. Despite the fact that he guarded President Truman's yacht, he received an honorable discharge. In the Forties, ace pilot Gregory Boyington was often drunk, insubordinate, and passed bad checks. But his commanders forgave him, and "Black Sheep Pappy" scored 26 kills of Japanese Zeroes. It is very likely that in today's "modern" and harsh judicial climate, both McQueen and Boyington would be punitively discharged. In 2002, one positive urine test, DWI, or alcohol/drug offense usually means you're kicked out of the military. This contrasts starkly with the Seventies and Eighties, when thousands of GI's attended the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (ADAP) -- a rehabilitation success story. America's most decorated veteran, Colonel David Hackworth, admitted that he frequently smoked pot in Vietnam. Harsh rules are a poor method of managing the complex individuals who guard America, but it has become the norm. The military is now suffering low morale and huge personnel shortages, but pampered Pentagon brass have shown little ability to reverse such trends. Programs to rehabilitate, retrain, and/or transfer minor miscreants are poor at best. Indeed, another freedom has been removed -- it is now "illegal" to serve in more than one military branch during one's lifetime (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy)! Although we're in the high-tech 21st century, stultifying rules and traditional service rivalries preclude transferring soldiers with high-tech skills who are suitable to other jobs. It is a fact of life that nuclear engineers (who should be in the Navy) are ignorantly put in the Army. Physicists (who should be in research labs) are ignorantly given troop-leading jobs. The mismanagement of highly specialized GI's is a national disgrace, and an injustice for our heroes in uniform. Recruiters frequently mislead new GI's about the jobs they'll receive on active duty. Their deceit is a direct cause of high attrition rates. The Army once assigned a Ph.D. nuclear physicist (author Herman Kahn) to a job in the infantry! A nurse was made a field artillery gunner, for over a year! Given the thousands of instances of poor judgment on behalf of American commanders, it is imperative that the military justice system be detached from their influence and oversight. Commanders in the USA, unlike their NATO counterparts, wield dictatorial powers over every aspect of soldierly life. Brutal punishment is often mandated for minor misconduct. Double standards -- based upon a GI's rank, wealth and VIP status -- are rampant. Several shocking examples are cited in "They Call It Justice," by Luther West. The antiquated and highly-criticized Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is over 50 years old. Commanders influence the judicial process, violating a soldier's most basic right to a fair trial. The majority of convicted GI's have low-income backgrounds and no prior criminal record. Over 90% of court-martial trials end in conviction, after which soldiers have extremely limited rights of appeal. The entire judicial process is rigidly orchestrated by career-oriented commanders, convening authorities, judges, and prosecutors. Among NATO allies, America has the most archaic and rights-depriving system of "military justice" in the First World. In many European nations, soldiers are tried before civilian tribunals which lessen the commander's influence. Of course, MJI acknowledges that it is the duty of every GI to obey military law -- especially in combat conditions. In wartime, disobeying orders can disrupt combat maneuvers and cost people's lives. High standards of discipline must be maintained in wartime, and severe punishment of micreants is the logical result. Even so, the wartime punishment of soldiers has been flawed. Anthony Babington's book, "For the Sake of Example," cited hundreds of WWI combatants who were executed for poor combat performance despite suffering extreme shell shock in the European trenches. In peacetime, thousands of GI's -- having excellent overall service records -- temporarily violate UCMJ due to family, peer, personal, or supervisor problems. In thousands of cases, they have been brutally overpunished instead of being offered effective rehabilitation. Many commanders resisting UCMJ reforms have freely admitted how they used drugs, committed adultery, drove while intoxicated, or committed other crimes without getting caught. The armed forces' legal system has a long history of overpunishing low-ranking soldiers. Examples include: (a) the racially motivated court-martial of Lt. Henry Flipper, the only black West Point graduate of his era; (b) Andrew Jackson's execution of an 18-year-old private, who received conflicting orders from two different supervisors; (c) the dismissal of Air Force Captain Carla Lancaster, whose only "crime" was taking an unapproved prescription painkiller; (d) the dismissal of Army Captain Lawrence Rockwood, whose only "crime" was inspecting tortured prisoners in Haiti. During World War II, more than 2 million GI's -- statistically, one of every six on active duty -- were court-martialed. Some of America's greatest citizens, as low-ranking sons of the poor, were punitively discharged for minor misconduct. Among them were Walt Disney and Rocky Marciano. Technically, nearly everyone breaks the law during his or her life. From jaywalking to DWI, we've all done something wrong without getting caught. The Bible exposed the adultery, larceny, murder schemes, and other sins of its greatest heroes -- including the first kings of Israel (Saul and David). History is replete with big crimes of the rich and famous. The Bible -- the world's most famous book -- stresses God's eternal mercy, and His forgiveness of every imaginable sin. Abraham Lincoln said, "God loves the common people." During the Civil War, he commuted the death sentences of many soldiers. Today's very imperfect military officers -- commanders, convening authorities, judges, and prosecutors -- should do their best to emulate God's mercy. The Military Justice Institute cautions them to avoid, where possible, the overpunishment of young, impressionable, first-time-offending GI's whose minor transgressions are often repaid with dishonorable discharges and imprisonment. In the book, "Great Court-Martial Cases," Senator Birch Bayh demanded major changes in the administration of UCMJ. That was during the 1970's, however, a more worker-friendly period in our history. That was the era of TV shows which cared about common people including "Andy Griffith," "Gomer Pyle," "F Troop," and "MASH." Since then, our culture has de-emphasized compassion for common GI's. Today's top TV shows are "JAG" (which lionizes lawyers, who do none of the military's real, back-breaking work), "Law and Order," and "Jerry Springer." In each show, common folk are often portrayed as ignorant, lazy, childlike criminals. Television also glorifies the idle rich and business tycoons who are often America's biggest crooks. Recent events exposed the corruption of Enron and crematorium executives, who are being hauled into court for their many crimes. In 2002, only 29% of Members of Congress are veterans. Many politicians -- who couldn't care less about UCMJ reform -- used multiple college deferments to completely avoid active duty. Others received easy, stateside jobs in the National Guard or Reserves. Their trangressions of federal and military law, although later exposed to the public, uniformly went unpunished. The vast majority of today's citizens and public leaders never served in uniform. Therefore, the Military Justice Institute believes that real soldiers deserve the most sophisticated and compassionate military justice system our nation has to offer. Since 1980, however, military personnel have faced increasingly harsh penalties for minor misconduct. In 1985, a DWI yielded an Article 15. Today, it's an automatic "out." Many were punitively discharged for refusing anthrax shots. This questionable vaccine, whose sole manufacturer BioPort has repeatedly failed FDA inspections, is voluntary in The Royal Army which consistently surpasses America in NATO competitions and now leads the Kosovo mission. One beacon of hope in 2002 is the Navy, which revamped its policies to retain and rehabilitate thousands of minor offenders. Its revolutionary reforms have been poorly reported by the media. However, their impact is unprecedented -- lower attrition rates, higher morale, and lower recruitment needs. The Navy's wisdom is rooted in the leadership of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was court-martialed as a young lieutenant for grounding a ship. Nimitz believed in compassion and second chances for miscreant sailors. His refusal to court-martial those negligent at Pearl Harbor, for example, improved Navy morale and accelerated America's victory in World War II. In the Armed Forces of 2002, the inhumane policy of dishonorably discharging thousands of troops, for minor misconduct, is a national disgrace. Stigmatizing young GI's for minor misconduct -- most of whom are low-income and have no prior record -- violates the very spirit of our free American civilization. Bad discharges have a lifelong impact upon the accused and promote joblessness, homelessness, and other social ills. The egotism, materialism, nepotism, and secularism of American commanders and politicians continue to block effective reform of the military "justice" system. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that, annually, more than 4,000 GI's are imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth (of whom more than 99% rank lieutenant and below). The severity and length of DoD sentences are on the rise, and appeals mechanisms have been greatly weakened from the 1970's. Unlike other NATO countries, America suffers enormous command influence in court-martial trials. Fake witnesses, fake testimony, fake Military Police reports, jury rigging, and trumped-up charges face many GI's. Other NATO countries, having more progressive judicial climates, employ civilian tribunals for military offenders -- away from the heavy hand of biased, career-oriented, and dictatorial commanders. The Dallas Morning News printed a scornful critique of UCMJ in a series of articles on November 24-26, 1991. America's military suffers the highest punishment statistics and worst rehabilitation programs within NATO. We "lead" the alliance with the highest percentages of incarcerated, dishonorably discharged, homeless, and medically neglected veterans. Seventy-one percent of Members of Congress, and eighty percent of Americans, have never served in uniform. Common GI's, who risk their lives while on duty, are poorly represented on Capitol Hill. Their imprisonment and dismissal contrasts starkly with the pampered treatment of miscreant admirals, colonels, generals, sons of VIP's, and defense contractors who often break the law with near impunity. The 21st-Century challenge facing America -- a nation increasingly criticized by Amnesty International for its worsening human rights record -- is to improve UCMJ in a long-overdue, bottoms-up review. The Military Justice Institute is promoting a new program: Amended Honorable Discharges for bad-paper veterans who later serve honorably in civilian work-for-pardon programs (as during the Carter and Ford years), the National Guard, or Reserves. Its impact upon American global prestige and citizen morale would be enormous. Of course, most self-centered commanders and politicians are completely opposed to the idea, despite their many unpunished transgressions. Major Goals As an educational foundation, MJI's principal goal is to educate citizens about the military's historical and ongoing overpunishment of minor offenders. Using public forums, audiotaped lectures, videotaped documentaries, literature, the Internet and other media, MJI reviews and suggest remedies to improve military justice. It researches and proposes innovative, more effective, and more humane ways to punish, rehabilitate, and provide career guidance to minor offenders. To accomplish its goals, MJI has adopted programs to: 1. Monitor the prosecution of minor offenders in the military courts, reporting all details to the public. 2. Promote alternative, paperless sentences for minor offenders -- including brig time, manual labor, extra duty, unit transfers, retraining brigades, alternatives to nonjudicial punishment (Article 15's), reasonable fines, and other methods more humane and effective than courts-martial. 3. Implement combined officer/NCO panels to make punishment decisions, in order to replace the single-minded, autocratic policies of career-oriented and biased commanders. 4. Inform the public about historical and modern shortcomings of military courts and GI defense mechanisms. 5. Make DOD trial transcripts more accessible to the public, regardless of the time period in question. 6. Expose the excesses of military police procedures, Article 32 investigations, pre- and post-trial proceedings, prosecutors, commanders, and their unwieldy influence upon trials of the accused. 7. Promote alternative clemency procedures to surpass today's widely-criticized and ineffective DD Form 293 (discharge upgrade application) and DD Form 149 (military-record corrections application). 8. Educate GI's, through literature and other media, about their extremely limited rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- and the dangers involved when codes of conduct temporarily fall below the norm. 9. Resurrect the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (ADAP). In contrast to the 70's and mid-80's -- when ADAP helped thousands of GI's over extended periods -- today's DOD employs an inhumane "first strike and you're out" policy. Wasting millions of recruiting and training dollars, this shortsighted "modern" policy has ruined the careers of thousands of first-time drug and DWI offenders. 10. Expose the double standards of military justice afforded VIP's and their children, compared to "common" GI's. In American history, there are hundreds of cases where celebrities, politicians, and other VIP's and their children got away with gross infringements of military law. Send case histories, comments, contributions, and correspondence to: The Military Justice Institute, P.O. Box 18373, Austin, Texas 78760. Email: tmji2002@netscape.net. |
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American Friends Service Committee |
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National Veterans Legal Services Program |
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The Sentencing Project |
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Soldiers For The Truth |