Posted on 04/12/2002 7:15:48 PM PDT by Libloather
Court Martial Changes Issued
Fri Apr 12, 8:32 PM ET
By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Military courts could sentence some criminals to life without parole and forbid witnesses from talking to reporters under changes to the manual for courts-martial issued by the White House Friday.
The changes also spell out for the first time rules for prosecuting military members for adultery. The rules say the adultery must either damage military order and discipline or hurt the military's reputation.
The new rules take effect May 15. As commander in chief, President Bush (news - web sites) has the power to write regulations controlling military courts.
Bush's new rules allow military courts to sentence defendants to life in prison either with or without parole for serious crimes such as murder, rape and kidnapping. Previously, the courts could sentence those criminals to a life sentence with no determination of whether parole would be allowed.
The new rules also allow military judges to issue "gag orders" prohibiting witnesses or parties to a case from discussing the case outside the courtroom. Civilian courts sometimes issue such orders in high-profile cases to prevent public statements judges believe could improperly influence jurors.
Adultery by a member of the military is a crime that can lead to a dishonorable discharge and up to one year in prison.
The new rules state that adultery "is clearly unacceptable conduct" but to be a crime "must either be directly prejudicial to good order and discipline or service discrediting."
That means the adultery must have a divisive effect on a military unit or be so well known that it dishonors the military, the new rules say.
In deciding whether to charge someone with criminal adultery, commanding officers should consider circumstances including the rank of the offenders, the misuse of government time or resources during the affair, whether the affair persisted despite orders to halt and the impact of the affair on the military unit.
Earlier rules had said that adultery must damage military discipline or hurt the military's reputation to be a crime, but did not spell out how that was to be determined.
The U.S. military had several public cases of adultery during the late 1990s. In 1997, Lt. Kelly Flinn, the Air Force's first female B-52 pilot, resigned rather than face adultery charges for an affair with the husband of another Air Force member.
Flinn's case led to charges by critics that a double standard existed that shielded male officers from adultery charges. Since then, at least four generals and admirals have been punished for adultery and related offenses. They included retired Maj. Gen. David Hale, the highest-ranking Army officer to face a court-martial since 1952, and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Gene McKinney, then the Army's highest-ranking enlisted soldier.
And the reason for that little ditty is what? Keep political prisoners from telling tales?
And how about the children! (Oops... I mean 'fetal tissue waste.' In far too many cases.) The military should care very deeply whether its "men" go tomcatting around.
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