Product Description
Such pressing legal issues as sexual harassment and fraternization that face the U.S. military today make this reference essential reading for members of all the military services and for civilians with an interest in military law. The author is a former Army field artillery officer who has served as a military and federal prosecutor as well as a civil litigation attorney specializing in discrimination cases. For this handy guide he explains the military justice system to the layman with useful and interesting discussions of military law and procedure. He illustrates legal points with famous cases and historical events, for example, the court-martial of baseball great Jackie Robinson. Particularly helpful are the comparisons he makes between the civilian and military legal systems. The book includes an examination of nonjudicial punishment, a step-by-step description of the court-martial process, and an overview of the various constitutional and statutory rights enjoyed by those in the military. It also looks at selected military crimes and the defenses of such crimes. And, because war crimes committed by American service members are prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the guide further provides an excellent introduction to the Law of War.
There is no other book currently available that presents such a complete yet easy-to-understand explanation for the nonlawyer of legal procedures in the military. A reader can find out about the jurisdiction of military law and who is subject to it--some will be surprised to learn that military retirees are covered by the laws--who makes up the court, what are considered to be crimes and examples of those who have been convicted, along with countless other facts that will prove useful to those seeking information of a unique segment of law in the United States.