Military Law Blog
Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals Reverses Earlier Opinion on Whether Regular Component Retirees Are Subject to UCMJ Jurisdiction
In December 2017, the Navy court-martialed retired Chief Petty Officer Stephen Begani for attempted sexual assault of a child and attempted sexual abuse of a child. The charges stemmed from online conversations between the retired Chief and an undercover NCIS agent who was portraying a 15-year old child and the Chief’s travel to meet with … Read more
Army Court of Criminal Appeals Rejects Defense Arguments that President Trump’s Comments Unlawfully Influenced Proceedings in Bowe Bergdahl Case
Then-Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl was assigned to a combat outpost in Afghanistan in 2009 when he left the Observation Post in order to walk to a Forward Operating Post and lodge a complaint about the treatment of his platoon at the OP. Bergdahl was quickly captured by the Taliban and held captive until May … Read more
The Government Petitions the US Supreme Court to Review CAAF Decisions on Statutes of Limitation
In February of this year, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) issued its opinion in United States v. Briggs. It was the second CAAF decision addressing the statute of limitations in sexual assault cases issued in the last two years. This blog discussed both cases here. Essentially, the Court found that the … Read more
CAAF Finds Error in Army Court’s Alteration of Guilty Rape Finding
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) issued an opinion in the case of United States v. English this summer that reinforced the limitations on the authority of appellate courts. Specialist English was convicted at court-martial of several specifications resulting from a violent sexual attack on his wife. He was sentenced to 23 … Read more
Navy-Marine Corps Court Finds that Military Retirees Cannot be Court-Martialed
The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals recently issued a decision in the case of United States v. Begani that held that military retirees are not subject to court-martial jurisdiction. Chief Petty Officer Begani retired from the Navy in June of 2017 after 24 years of active duty service and was transferred to the Fleet … Read more
Listen to Episode 038: Navy Collisions At Sea And Courts-Martial in Podcasts
Weirick is joined by Hope Hodge Seck, journalist and managing editor at www.Military.com to discuss the courts-martial of Navy officers resulting from the deadly collisions of USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain. Guest: Hope Hodge Seck Twitter: @HopeSeck Website: www.Military.com Further reading about this case: Podcast support from The Great Courses Plus. For free … Read more
Discharge Upgrade- Civilian Attorney
Mr. Cassara served six years on active duty in the Army JAG Corps and 16 years in the Army JAG Corps reserves. He served as a prosecutor, defense counsel and as appellate defense counsel. For more than 30 years, Mr. Cassara has represented service members of all military branches in courts-martial, appeals of court-martial convictions, … Read more
They are threatening to revoke my security clearance…do I fight it?
Yes. Your security clearance is the ticket to keeping your job. Without it, you will most likely no longer be qualified to hold your position and if you are a service member, you may be eliminated from the service. If you have recently received a letter of intent (LOI) to revoke your security clearance, you … Read more
Court-Martial Sentencing Procedures Change in 2019
The Military Justice Act, passed in 2016, took effect on January 1, 2019. Among the many changes to military justice practice the new law includes adjustments to sentencing procedures. These changes seem primarily to address the disparity in sentences under the previous procedures. Until this year, if an accused elected to be tried by members … Read more
A New Type of Special Court-Martial Debuts in 2019
Extensive changes to military justice went into effect on January 1, 2019. One of the biggest changes was the addition of a new type of court-martial. Article 16(c)(2)(A) allows a special court-martial convening authority to refer charges to a special court-martial consisting of a military judge alone. Unlike when the charges are tried at a … Read more