New Law Could Subject Civilians to Military Trial

[cal04]

Provision Aimed at Contractors, but Some Fear It Will Sweep Up Other Workers
Private contractors and other civilians serving with U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan could be subject for the first time to military courts-martial under a new federal provision that legal scholars say is almost certain to spark constitutional challenges.

The provision, which was slipped into a spending bill at the end of the last Congress, is intended to close a long-standing loophole that critics say puts contractors in war zones above the law.

But the provision also could affect others accompanying U.S. forces in the field, including civilian government employees and embedded journalists.

The Pentagon has estimated that there are 100,000 government contractors operating in Iraq, doing such jobs as serving meals, guarding convoys and interrogating prisoners.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400906.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. Interrogating prisoners. Always that little bothersome detail.

I can just imagine.

[RamboLiberal]

2. My fear is it will be used against journalists

We have too much of a lapdog media as is - now they could threaten them with prosecution.

As much as I hate mercenaries, if a crime is committed, transport them back to U.S. to be tried in a civilian court.

Gawd I hate this bunch of facists!

[LynnTheDem]

3. Military dictatorship.

Hello America, wakey, wakey.

[rodeodance]

4. Grahm of all people should know better!!

Legal experts say that latitude is one reason why attempting to hold civilians to the same standards as U.S. troops could be a messy process. It is also likely to raise constitutional challenges: Civilians prosecuted in military court don't receive a grand jury hearing and are ultimately tried by members of the military, rather than by a jury of their peers. The Supreme Court has struck down civilian convictions under military law, and no conviction of a civilian under the UCMJ has been upheld in more than half a century.

"The Supreme Court has been quite hostile to trying civilians in a court-martial," said Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice. "On the other hand, the military justice system is more robust and has more protections in it than it did back in the 1950s. . . . This is going to be a law professor's dream."

One additional complication lies in determining who the new provision applies to. Graham said the change was aimed solely at holding contractors accountable. But legal observers say it could be interpreted broadly to also include employees with other government agencies, as well as reporters.

"One could imagine a situation in which a commander is unhappy with what a reporter is writing and could use the UCMJ to pressure the reporter," said Phillip E. Carter, a contracting lawyer with McKenna Long & Aldridge

[krispos42]

5. Shouldn't they be tried in an Iraqi court?

They are, after all, on sovereign Iraqi soil.

How does this stuff normally work?