The Supreme Court of Canada has today dismissed the appeals in the judicial independence case of Edwards v. H.M. The King by a vote of 6-1. The decision can be found here. We'll have more on this, including a Town Hall ..read more

At 9:45 a.m., Friday, April 26, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada will hand down its decision in Edwards v. H.M. The King, No. 39820, and four other cases that raise the same or similar issues. From the court's summary: The appellants are members of the Canadian Armed Forces who had various charges laid against them. They each filed a preliminary application in the Court Martial seeking a stay of proceedings because of an alleged infringement of their constitutional right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal guaranteed by s. 11(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights ..read more

Moscow Times reports: A Russian court has sentenced Meta spokesman Andy Stone to six years in prison in absentia on “terrorism” charges linked to the company’s wartime content moderation policy, the independent Mediazona news website reported Monday. Stone was charged with the “promotion,” “public calls for” and “justification” of terrorism after his March 2022 announcement that the Facebook and Instagram parent company would temporarily lift its ban on violent speech for comments against the “Russian invaders” of Ukraine.  Moscow’s Second Western Military Garrison Court on Monday found ..read more

This seems a real question in a current Spanish case. The attorney in question, Luis Romero Santos, writes in this op-ed: Perhaps Your Honor receives pressure from his bosses and from the defense's military lawyers, since we must not forget the hierarchical dependence of military judges, both functional and organic. They must follow orders and their career advancements may be in jeopardy. That is why we should ask ourselves if it is not time to integrate military jurisdiction into ordinary jurisdiction, as has happened some time ago in Germany, France, Holland and Portugal. Our Constitution ..read more

The Alabama Senate has passed a bill amending the state's Code of Military Justice. Among other things, the bill amends the provision on subject matter jurisdiction.  Under the new version, offenses by a member in any duty status will be rebuttably presumed to have the requisite service nexus. The measure goes to the State House of Representatives ..read more

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a new report: Quality Data Needed to Improve Oversight of Navy and Marine Corps Disciplinary Measures. It makes two recommendations: The Secretary of the Navy should ensure that the Chief of Naval Operations establishes a time frame for automating the Navy's process to collect and maintain quality nonjudicial punishment data in its personnel database and then implements this automated process. The Secretary of the Navy should ensure that the Commandant of the Marine Corps establishes a time frame for automating the Marine Corps' p ..read more

Each of the (US) Services has a mechanism where a servicemember can be granted a discharge in lieu of court-martial--what is referred to as one form of alternate resolution during pretrial negotiations. The approval of alternate resolutions was a collaborative process involving the commander, higher authority, prosecutor, and any victims. Because of the new OSTC system, the Army has placed the responsibility for approval with the OSTC. Earlier news articles by ProPublica had focused on the number of servicemembers allowed to leave the military administratively rather than through court-martial ..read more

This just in: M. Chris Cox, When Commanders Decide: Military Prosecutorial Decision-Making in Sexual Assault Cases, 22 Seattle J. Soc. Just. 371 (2024 ..read more

Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States decided Rudisill v. McDonough, No. 22-888. At issue was a technical question concerning educational benefits afforded to veterans who qualify under two separate GI Bills. Of broader potential interest is the hostile treatment of the so-called "veterans canon" in both the concurring opinion of Justice Brett Kavanaugh (joined by Justice Amy Coney Barrett) and the dissenting opinion of Justice Clarence Thomas (joined by Justice Samuel Alito), Under that canon, statutes that confer benefits on veterans are construed in the veteran's favor. To quote ..read more

Shawn D. McKelvy, L. William Uhl & Armand Balboni, Shots Fired, Shots Refused: Scientific, Ethical, and Legal Challenges Surrounding the U.S. Military's COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate, 55 St. Mary's L.J. 405 (2024 ..read more