JAG CENTRAL

From the NY Times, Military Report of Sexual Assault Cases ("Military investigators received 1,700 reports of sexual assault in 2004 involving at least one service member, the Pentagon said. This includes cases in which a service member was either an alleged assailant or a victim. It is the first year the military has tracked this statistic. But the number of military members claiming they were victims has been tracked. The data showed 1,275 cases involved at least one member of the military saying he or she was a victim of sexual assault in 2004, up from 1,012 in 2003."); Police Watch House of Bosnia War Figure ("Police officers and spies have practically taken over the house of Bosnia's most wanted war crimes fugitive, Radovan Karadzic, eager to see if he will return home for the funeral of his mother, a Sarajevo daily newspaper reported Friday.").

From the Washington Post, Reported Cases of Sexual Assault in Military Increase ("Military criminal organizations in 2004 received 1,700 reports of alleged cases of sexual assault, which includes rape, nonconsensual sodomy, indecent assault as well as attempts to commit those offenses. In 1,275 of the reported cases, service members were alleged victims -- an increase of 25 percent over the number determined by a Pentagon task force in 2003, and 41 percent over the 2002 figure. The overall 2004 figure also included 425 cases in which service members allegedly assaulted or attempted to assault civilians -- a category not included in earlier years' totals."); Pentagon Revises Contractor Rules ("The final regulations, published Thursday in the Federal Register, state, for example, that military "combatant commanders" will establish a plan to protect the civilian workers, unless the company's contract says otherwise. It is also up to the military commander to decide whether the contractors can carry government-issued or privately owned weapons and wear military clothing.").

Blogger just released moblogging! I'm writing this from my cell!

In the newest published opinion from the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals, U.S. v. Davis, No. ARMY 20010469, the court claims to clarify its interpretation of the husband-wife privilege, Military Rule of Evidence 504. Does it really do so? The soldier in question, when faced with an impending search of his computer laden with child pornography, called his wife on the telephone and demanded she delete all the files on the computer. She complied with the request. At trial, she recounted the telephone conversation to the court, over defense objections. ACCA decided that since the joint criminal venture of obstruction of justice didn't begin until she actually began deleting the files, the ongoing joint criminal venture exception to MRE 504 did not apply, and the conversation was privileged. Since the judge's error was harmless, the defendant receives no relief.

Actually, this leaves open a very important question in military law: does the Army Court still recognize a joint criminal venture exception to MRE 504? The court in U.S. v. Martel, 19 M.J. 917 (A.C.M.R. 1985) held that MRE 504 does not apply to conversations regarding crimes in which the spouses are jointly participating. In U.S. v. Archuleta, 40 M.J. 505 (A.C.M.R. 1994), the court seemed to place this holding in doubt. While not expressly overruling Martel, the court did conclude that "there is no basis to limit [MRE 504]'s applicability solely to confidential communications . . . that are not part of a joint venture in criminal activity." Id. at 507. Since ACCA today rested its decision on fact-finding error rather than legal error, it continues to leave the resolution of this important legal question for another day.

From Newsday (Long Island, NY; the only NY paper for good sports scores, trust me), reaction from the alleged victim of 1LT Mike Hall to his acquittal:

"The Army, though this judge and this illogical verdict was obviously determined to inflict the final parting act of reprisal and retaliation against me for reporting this rape and going public with the truth," Jennifer Ottepka of Mays Landing wrote in four-page statement.
....
"The Army has essentially decreed that it is completely acceptable for soldiers to be vile criminals," she wrote.

Related Posts:
1. NATIONAL GUARD OFFICER ACQUITTED OF RAPE
2. NATIONAL GUARD RAPE TRIAL BEGINS

Video Still of Marine Allegedly Shooting Unarmed Iraqi, 16 NOV 04 (MSNBC)

From the AP via ABC News:

A Marine corporal who was videotaped shooting an apparently injured and unarmed Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque last year will not face court-martial, the Marine Corps announced Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, said that a review of the evidence showed the Marine's actions in the shooting were "consistent with the established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict."

The corporal was not identified in a two-page statement issued by Camp Pendleton, the headquarters of the expeditionary force north of San Diego.

You can view the original story and video here (courtesy MSNBC).

Army CW3 Darrin R. Rogers, Convicted for Negligent Homicide of SGT Daniel Galvan (Honolulu Advertiser)

From the Honolulu Advertiser, word that a Schofield Barracks UH-60 Blackhawk pilot has been sentenced to 120 days prison for a passenger death that resulted after he was "showing off" (I first told you about this case here):

At his court-martial yesterday, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Darrin R. Rogers pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, violating an order and destruction of government property — the $4.5 million Black Hawk — in the Aug. 12 crash near the Pakistan border.

In a plea agreement, Rogers will serve 120 days at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and forfeit pay.

The plea agreement superceded yesterday's sentencing by a military judge. The judge had sentenced Rogers, 37, of Mililani, to 50 months in prison, forfeiture of all pay and benefits and dismissal from the Army.

ANALYSIS: As I said in my previous post, prosecuting pilots for the negligent death of their passengers is extremely rare; usually this is handled administratively. There have been a few courts-martial like this one, most notably the Cavalese cable-car disaster in which two Marine officers were put on trial when their EA-6B Prowler clipped a cable-car line in Italy killing 20 people. However, they were acquitted. (They were later convicted of obstruction of justice in a subsequent trial for destroying an on-board videotape of the incident.) Here, it seems the sheer amount of eyewitness testimony from those on board created a mountain of evidence that CW3 Rogers was "showboating," flying outside of maneuvers briefed to him by his commander. The article recounts CW3 Rogers admissions:

Rogers admitted that during the "high visibility" demonstration for the Marine Corps commandant, Lt. Col. Michael L. Maffett, the acting battalion commander for 2-25, had said "he wanted to be extra safe that day. Don't try to impress anybody."

Instead, while waiting for the OK to conduct the demonstration and flying in circles several miles from Salerno, Rogers decided to give the Marines the "ride" they were looking for.

"So you were just showing off?" asked Judge Col. Debra L. Boudreau.

"Yes ma'am," Rogers said. "Basically, I was trying to impress the guys in the back."

He said that as the helicopter descended, a set of wheel chocks drifted into the cockpit, jamming the controls and preventing him from pulling out of the dive.

Rogers said the maneuver was done at 200 to 300 feet, and when he trains for such flying, it's at 1,000 feet.

The helicopter crashed, rotated and flipped on its side, destroying it. Those onboard received fractures to vertebrae, head wounds, broken ankles and other injuries.

From the NY Times, Columbia Yields 2 Accused Soldiers to U.S. ("Two American soldiers arrested by the Colombian police for arms smuggling were handed over to the United States Embassy on Thursday, angering Colombian authorities and ordinary Colombians who believe that the two should face charges here. Under treaty obligations, Allan Tanquary and Jesus Hernandez, Army Special Forces marksmen who had been stationed in Colombia as part of the American effort to fight drugs and Marxist rebels, will be investigated by American officials and, if charged, face trial in the United States. The two men, along with four Colombians, were arrested Tuesday in a luxury gated community in Melgar, where the police found 32,000 rounds of ammunition that they contend was bound for right-wing paramilitary groups."). Like I predicted here, Columbia was bound by treaty to hand the soldiers over. In other news, No Finger-Pointing in [Canadian] Sub Inquiry; and Private Will Face New Charges Over Abuse Of Prisoners in Iraq ("The government will file new charges soon against Pfc. Lynndie R. England, whose guilty plea was thrown out and her court-martial canceled Wednesday over testimony by the convicted ringleader in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, an Army defense lawyer said Thursday after meeting with military prosecutors. But the charges will have to be investigated anew in what the military calls an Article 32 hearing - similar to a civilian grand jury but open to the defense and the public - before Private England, 22, can be faced with a new trial, perhaps sometime this summer here at Fort Hood, said the lawyer, Capt. Jonathan Crisp. He said it was premature to speculate about another guilty plea.").

From the Washington Post, General Demoted, But Cleared in Abuse Probe ("President Bush approved yesterday an order demoting Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski, the only general to be punished in connection with investigations into detainee abuse at U.S. military prisons. Karpinski's rank was reduced to colonel, and she was issued a reprimand and relieved of her command. But the Army's inspector general recommended the sanctions based on a broad charge of dereliction of duty, as well as on a charge of shoplifting, essentially clearing her of responsibility for the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. As commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade, Karpinski oversaw more than a dozen prison facilities in Iraq in 2003."); Lawyer Withdraws from England's Defense Team ("Pfc. Lynndie R. England's civilian lawyer has stepped down from her defense team after representing her against prison abuse charges for a year, citing the financial burden of working on the high-profile case for free. Rick Hernandez, of Denver, said yesterday that England will continue to be represented by her Fort Jackson, S.C.-based military lawyer, Capt. Jonathan Crisp. Hernandez said the defense team is continuing discussions about a plea agreement with military prosecutors that would spare England significant jail time for offenses alleged to have occurred at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003.").

From USA Today (Plagiarism Central), Bush Approves Demotion of Gen. Karpinski in Prison Scandal.

This will be the first in a periodic series of updates on what's going on in the military justice systems of other countries. This edition features events in two countries: Canada and India.


Admiral Bruce MacClean, Commander of Canadian Naval Forces (CBC)

In Canada: A naval board of inquiry found that the commanding officer of the HMCS Chicoutimi, a submarine on a voyage from Scotland to Canada, was not responsible for a fire that led to the death of Lieutenant Chris Saunders. In a nation that seems consumed on conducting high-profile, fratricidal inquiries of its own military (the most famous inquiry being the years-long investigation of the Canadian Airborne Regiment which interrupted daytime soap operas on TV for years, wikipedia article here), it's refreshing to see that they have actually cleared one of their own high-ranking officers. Find the story from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation here. You can find the actual Board of Inquiry report here.


Indian Flying Officer Anjali Gupta (Calcutta Telegraph)

The kinds of social and cultural struggles that take place in our Army also take place in other countries. In India, the first-ever court-martial of a female military officer is taking place. Flying Officer Anjali Gupta is being charged with filing falsified and inflated expense reports in connection with some temporary duty travel. The defense has alleged that the entire court-martial is trumped up and is retaliation for refusal to acquiesce to long-running sexual harassment against her by several senior officers. Indeed, it is the sexual harassment counter-charges which are getting the biggest headlines in India. Currently, the trial is on hold while Gupta is receiving treatment in a Bangalore military hospital for undisclosed illnesses. The prosecution is alleging she is malingering to avoid the trial. You can read the latest news from the Calcutta Telegraph here.

Regarding the Solomon Amendment case, FAIR v. Rumsfeld, that will be heard at the Supreme Court next term (see related post here), I've been engaging in a debate with an anonymous commenter regarding the merits of the case. You can find the entire debate on the HaloScan comment page here. Below is my response to some of this person's arguments:

1. "Indeed, lots of people are STILL being rejected by JAG!"
- This statistic has to be put into context. Sure, the Army rejects 3 out of every 4 applicants for active duty service in the JAG Corps. However, this is not comparable to other big firms, which typically reject 10 or more applicants for every one job. Because of a lack of the best and brightest candidates, JAG has to be less selective.

2. "Recruiters know they are probably wasting their time at top schools."
- I would submit that if we get one recruit a year from Yale or Stanford, every penny getting that recruit is money well spent. The experience a top school graduate lends to the service you simply can't put a price tag on. Don't even begin to argue that a graduate from Ohio Podunk University is the same lawyer as a Harvard grad. It simply isn't true.

3. "Everyone who wants to join JAG can join JAG."
- This misses the entire point of military recruiting. Over 80% of recruits for any military specialty, including JAG, are not the type who wanted to be a soldier since a kid. Most recruits sign on the dotted line after a lengthy decision-making process of costs and benefits, and it is usually a recruiter that begins this negotiating process. Indeed, it is often the recruiter who, by their presence in the community, plants the seed of service.

4. "Schools have an interest in keeping everything it offers open to all of its students."
- Yes, they have an interest in keeping military recruiters off campus. No, this does not rise to the level of declaring a federal law unconstitutional. You can make whatever argument you want that the Solomon Amendment is bad policy or bad law - I might go that far with you. However, making the leap to holding it unconstitutional is a bridge too far.

PFC Lynddie England and Son Before Court Today (AP)

From the NY Times, Judge Tosses Out Abuse Plea After Ringleader Testifies:

The surprise mistrial canceled what had seemed to be a pro-forma punishment phase and sent the case back to the Army commander at Fort Hood, Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, for re-examination. Government and defense lawyers said they would meet as early as Thursday to consider their options.

The judge, Col. James L. Pohl, ordered the mistrial after Pvt. Charles A. Graner Jr., testifying on behalf of Private England, his former lover, portrayed their handling of a leashed prisoner as legitimate, contradicting her sworn admission of guilt and said she had acted at his request in helping to remove an obstructive prisoner from his cell.

"I was asking her as the senior person at that extraction," Private Graner said.

Clearly taken aback, Colonel Pohl broke in, lecturing the defense lawyers. "If you don't want to plead guilty, don't," he said. "But you can't plead guilty and then say you're not. Am I missing something here?"

Laurance A. Franklin, Defense Analyst Arrested Wednesday (AP)

In other news, Pentagon Analyst Charged with Disclosing Military Secrets ("The analyst, Lawrence A. Franklin, turned himself in to the authorities on Wednesday morning in a case that has stirred unusually anxious debate in influential political circles in the capital even though it has focused on a midlevel Pentagon employee. The inquiry has cast a cloud over the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which employed the two men who are said to have received the classified information from Mr. Franklin. The group, also known as Aipac, has close ties to senior policymakers in the Bush administration, among them Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to appear later this month at the group's annual meeting."); Ammo Seized in Columbia; 2 G.I. Suspects Are Arrested ("Two American soldiers stationed in Colombia have been arrested on charges of smuggling thousands of rounds of ammunition, the police said Wednesday, and the authorities are trying to determine if the bullets were bound for a paramilitary group of death squads that have killed thousands of people in the drug-fueled civil war. The arrests, coming five weeks after five American servicemen stationed here were arrested on charges of cocaine trafficking, have badly tarnished Washington's $3.3 billion anti-drug offensive. A Colombian senator, Jairo Clopatofsky, is calling for hearings to determine if other Americans are involved.") ANALYSIS: As the story clearly and correctly points out, a 31-year old Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Columbia mandates that American soldiers can only be tried in American courts. If Senator Clopatofsky gets his way, this would most certainly break the treaty.

In other news, Air Force Sets New Inquiry at Academy ("The Pentagon is sending investigators to the Air Force Academy to look into complaints that evangelical Christian faculty members, officers and cadets routinely proselytize and intimidate those on campus who do not hold the same religious beliefs. The inquiry follows accusations that these other cadets have long been subject to a climate of religious intolerance. To address the problem, the academy, in Colorado Springs, began requiring its faculty and students in March to attend 50-minute sensitivity training classes. But last week the advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a report to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld saying the problem remained and was systemic.").

From the Washington Post, Judge Rejects Guilty Plea in Iraq Abuse Case; Defense Analyst Charged With Sharing Secrets.

From Reuters, word that the military judge has halted PFC Lynddie England's sentencing hearing because he believes her guilty plea may be in conflict with the evidence:

Judge Col. James Pohl called a halt for three hours after testimony of a witness called by Lynndie England appeared to undermine her acceptance of guilt. England's smiling face on pictures of naked and humiliated Iraqis is a lasting image of the scandal,

"There is evidence being presented that you are not guilty," Pohl told England.

The witness, England's former boyfriend Charles Graner, had said from the stand that one of the central acts of the case -- in which England, now 22, appeared holding a naked prisoner on a leash -- was a legitimate prison procedure.

"If you don't believe you are guilty, if you honestly believe you were doing what Graner told you to do, then you can't plead guilty," the judge said. England had agreed to plead guilty in return for a shorter sentence.

In testimony before the six-member military jury, England's lawyers have been trying to present mitigating circumstances in explaining how she turned up in the photos, taken at the prison outside Baghdad in late 2003.

The judge had repeatedly made clear clear the guilty plea would be jeopardized by any statements by England or evidence in her defense that would undercut her admission of guilt.

He has the authority to reject the plea and force the case to go to trial at a later date.

Graner, addressing the leash incident, said the prisoner involved had repeatedly threatened and assaulted Americans. "I had wrapped what I call the tether around his shoulder and ... it slid round his neck. I asked (England) to hold the tether and I took three quick pictures," he said.

More analysis to follow...

From the NY Times, Sentencing Hearing Starts for G.I. Featured in Abu Ghraib Pictures ('When asked outside court if he found any conflict between the accounts of Private England's shyness and the notorious images of her pointing at the genitals of humiliated Iraqi prisoners, one of her lawyers, Rick Hernandez, said: "I don't. You have to take everything into consideration." He added, "Just for posing in those photos, she never meant or did any abuse."').

From the Washington Post, Air Force to Probe Religious Climate at Colorado Academy:

The Air Force said yesterday it is creating a task force to address the religious climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy, following allegations that its faculty and staff have pressured cadets to convert to evangelical Christianity.

The acting secretary of the Air Force, Michael L. Dominguez, ordered the task force to make a preliminary assessment by May 23 of the religious atmosphere on the Colorado Springs campus and its "relevance . . . to the entire Air Force." He named Lt. Gen. Roger A. Brady, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for personnel, to head the effort.
....
Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein, a White House attorney in the Reagan administration who graduated from the academy in 1977 and has sent two sons there, said yesterday that "a colossal failure of leadership is resulting in a constitutional train wreck" at the school.

Last week, the Washington-based group Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued a 14-page report charging that there is "systematic and pervasive religious bias and intolerance at the highest levels of the Academy command structure."

The report said that during basic training, cadets who declined to go to chapel after dinner were organized into a "Heathen Flight" and marched back to their dormitories. It said the Air Force's "Chaplain of the Year" urged cadets to proselytize among their classmates or "burn in the fires of hell"; that mandatory cadet meetings often began with explicitly Christian prayers; and that numerous faculty members introduced themselves to their classes as born-again Christians and encouraged students to become born again during the term.

ANALYSIS: I graduated from West Point in 1997, and I must say I didn't really experience this kind of intolerance there. Although I do believe in God, I almost never went to church there, and I never witnessed any backlash for not doing so. I did experience something like "Heathen Flight" during my initial entry training. Every week, the various chaplains organized "Chaplain's Time," where they had sodas and cookies, and most importantly, a few hour break from the rigors of "Beast Barracks." One person in our company decided they didn't want to go to Chaplain's Time since he was atheist. Well, two of the cadets decided to hold "Atheist's Time" with him while we were gone, which consisted of push-ups, uniform drills, and other "additional training." Well, next week, that guy lined up for Chaplain's Time with everyone else. I don't think these upperclass cadets were trying to force religion on him; rather, I think they were ensuring that he take the several hour break from Beast that everyone needs, and since they couldn't make him because of the event's religious nature, they would make it uncomfortable for him to miss it. However, I can see how someone who wouldn't recognize what they were doing would view this as religious discrimination.

From USA Today, Air Force Academy Wrestles With Alleged Religious Bias.

Estes Thompson from the AP has this great article (via Lexington Herald-Leader) on what SGT Akbar has in store for him on death row, and the likelihood of him ever reaching the injection table:

The military has not executed one of its own since 1961, while states have put scores of civilian killers to their deaths. Experts say the key difference in military justice is the role of the president, who unlike a governor, must take an active role in signing off when a service member gets the ultimate punishment.

"It is unique to the military justice system that there has to be an affirmative approval by the president of the United States," said Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice in Washington. "Clearly, there's no rush to judgment."

Currently, five people are on military death row, three whose cases are in the appeals process and two who are awaiting action from the president.

The last time there was a military execution was 44 years ago when President Kennedy signed off on the hanging of Army Pfc. John A. Bennett for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl.

A military appeals court overturned a previous military death sentence, given to Sgt. William Kreutzer for killing an officer and wounding 18 other soldiers when he fired on a formation of 1,300 troops at Fort Bragg in 1995.
....
While the 34-year-old Akbar sits on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., his punishment still could be years away.

He is afforded automatic appeals to two military courts and can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But even if a military death sentence clears all the appeals, it then must go to the president.

Scott Silliman, a former Air Force lawyer and director of Duke's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, said there appears to be strong pressure for presidents not to approve military executions.

"The president, regardless of his political party, senses that to approve the execution of a member of the military is almost to make a political statement," Silliman said. "There is more benefit than risk in not approving it."

PFC Lynddie England, Laughing All the Way to Prison (AP)

From the AP (via ABC News), an update on Day One of PFC Lynddie England's sentencing hearing. Apparently, she's claiming she got no air at birth:

Defense lawyers sought leniency for Pfc. Lynndie England at a hearing Tuesday to determine her punishment in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, with a psychologist testifying that the reservist was oxygen-deprived at birth, speech impaired and had trouble learning to read.

West Virginia school psychologist Dr. Thomas Denne the first defense witness said England's learning disabilities were identified when she was a kindergartner and though she made progress in school, she continued needing special help.

"I knew I was going to know Lynndie England for the rest of my life," West Virginia school psychologist Dr. Thomas Denne said.

A military jury of five men and one woman was seated earlier Tuesday to make a sentencing recommendation for England, 22, who pleaded guilty Monday to seven counts of mistreating prisoners.

Yes, it's all society's fault. You stick with that, lady.

PFC Lynddie England: "I knew it was wrong." (Reuters)

From the NY Times, Private England Pleads Guilty to Abuses ("Pfc. Lynndie R. England, the Army reservist who personified the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal by gleefully posing with naked Iraqi detainees, pleaded guilty on Monday to seven of nine criminal counts, telling a military court, "I knew it was wrong." Standing just over five feet tall and speaking almost inaudibly, with little emotion, Private England testified in court at Fort Hood that she went along with the demands of a fellow soldier, Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr., thinking "it was just for his personal amusement."); Justices Accept a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Recruiting Suit (another Solomon Amendment story which I blogged about here.

From the Washington Post, Army Private Pleads Guilty to Prison Abuse; Court to Review Military Recruiting at Colleges.

From the USA Today, High Court to Review Law on Campus Military Recruiting; PFC England Pleads Guilty in Abu Ghraib Scandal; and this op-ed entitled Guilty Are Held Accountable (by BG Vincent K. Brooks, Chief of Army Public Affairs):

BG Vincent K. Brooks, Chief of Army Public Affairs

The abuses that occurred were tragic and damaged our country's image. But it is important to separate the legal interrogation of terrorist suspects from the shameful and illegal abuses that took place. Indeed, most incidents of detainee mistreatment were not even associated with interrogations.

It also would be a mistake to forget that the interrogation of detainees is intended to provide crucial information to deter attacks on our homeland and on our troops.

The Department of Defense has been focused for more than a year on investigating wrongdoing, holding people appropriately accountable and correcting or modernizing procedures. We have addressed the situation with purpose and seriousness.

Records indicate the 10,000th unique visitor was logging in from ucsd.edu (University of California, San Diego), and was referred to this site by my friend Phil Carter at INTEL DUMP. Thanks for all the support, readers!

From the NY Times, news that the U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to FAIR v. Rumsfeld, the Third Circuit case holding unconstitutional the law pulling federal funding from those law schools who refuse to allow military recruiters on campus:

The justices announced that they would review a lower-court ruling, in favor of 25 law schools, that universities may bar military recruiters from their campuses without risking the loss of federal aid. Arguments will be heard in the justices' next term, which begins in October.

At issue is a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, which held in a 2-to-1 decision last Nov. 29 that educational institutions have a First Amendment right to bar military recruiters to protest a Defense Department policy that discriminates against gay people by barring them from serving openly in the armed forces.

The controversy began in 1995, when Congress passed what became known as the Solomon Amendment to a military appropriations bill. Named for its sponsor, Representative Gerald B.H. Solomon, an upstate New York Republican, the measure barred disbursement of money from the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Health and Human Services and Education, as well as some other agencies, to any college or university that blocked campus recruiting by the military.

As Mr. Solomon put it at the time: "Tell recipients of federal money at colleges and universities that if you do not like the armed forces, if you do not like its policies, that is fine, that is your First Amendment right. But do not expect federal dollars to support your interference with our military recruiters."

The cert. grant is contained on page 8 of today's order list. The SCOTUSBlog writes about the cert. grant here. You can get the Third Circuit's opinion here. The Georgetown University Law Center has a running repository of FAIR v. Rumsfeld litigation here. NOTE: The Centrist was a contributing author to the UCLAW Veterans Society's amicus brief in support of the US Government, which you can find here.

UPDATE: Phil Carter blogs at length about the cert. grant here. As Phil puts it:

Ultimately, I think the long-term answer to reversing this policy and promoting tolerance within the military is to encourage graduates from those (small "l") liberal universities now fighting the Solomon Amendment to enter the armed forces. They will take with them the values they learned at places like Harvard, Columbia and UCLA, and change attitudes more surely than any act of Congress or Supreme Court opinion. This litigation may serve as a valuable symbolic protest, but I fear that in the long run, it does grave harm both to the military and to the cause for which these professors are fighting.

PFC Lynddie England, Before Pleading Guilty Today (AP)

From the AP (via ABC News), news that PFC Lynddie England pleaded guilty to abuses at Abu Ghraib today:

Wearing her dress green Army uniform and speaking somberly in a soft voice, the 22-year-old Army reservist told the judge that she initially resisted taking part in the abuse at the Baghdad prison, but ultimately caved in to peer pressure.

"I had a choice, but I chose to do what my friends wanted me to," she said, entering her pleas a day before the start of her trial.

The charges carry up to 11 years in prison, but prosecutors and the defense reached an agreement for a lesser sentence, the length of which was not released. A military jury will convene on Tuesday to determine her punishment; she will get the lesser of the jury's sentence or the term agreed on in the plea bargain.

If she had been convicted as charged, she could have gotten 16 1/2 years behind bars.

The judge asked her about a photo depicting her smiling and pointing at a naked detainee's genitals while smoking a cigarette. England said she replied, "No, no way" at first when a fellow soldier asked her to pose for the picture.

"But they were being very persistent, bugging me, so I said, `OK, whatever,'" she told the judge.

The Prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (NY Times)

From the NY Times, Witness Given Immunity in Marine Hearing:

A military prosecutor pressed the claim Saturday that the shootings of two Iraqis by a Marine officer last year were executions, and said the officer should be court-martialed for premeditated murder and related charges.

But lawyers for the officer, Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, insisted at a hearing that the shootings, which occurred during a search outside a suspected insurgent hideout, had been self-defense. They said the accusations arose because of a sergeant who had an ax to grind against Lieutenant Pantano, the sergeant's platoon commander. The sergeant, Daniel Coburn, was Lieutenant Pantano's primary accuser, and described the shootings as executions in a letter to his wife.

Charles Gittins, a civilian defense lawyer, spent close to six hours Saturday - the conclusion of a five-day hearing - trying to debunk Sergeant Coburn's earlier testimony.

Sergeant Coburn, testifying under a grant of immunity, acknowledged under questioning that his position about what had happened in Iraq was an opinion. He also said he had never formally notified superiors because he had not thought they would take the claim seriously.

"I do not recall my state of mind when I wrote this letter," Sergeant Coburn said under intense questioning by Mr. Gittins. "I never intended this letter to be part of a court hearing."

Prosecutors pressed for the case to go forward, but said Saturday that they would not seek the death penalty, even though the top charge, premeditated murder, allows that option.

In other news, Inquiry Finds Abuses at Guantanamo Bay ("The F.B.I. agents wrote in memorandums that were never meant to be disclosed publicly that they had seen female interrogators forcibly squeeze male prisoners' genitals, and that they had witnessed other detainees stripped and shackled low to the floor for many hours.").