Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"May 3, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
May
3, 2002
|
It’s the time of year when sports starts to heat back up.
Not only do we have baseball in full-swing, especially with the division-leading Red Sox still edging out the infamous Yankees, but the NBA and NHL playoffs are deep into their respective battles. If you read Foxy’s column last week, he stated he is a life-long Boston "C’s" fan, but admits he isn’t fanatic about them due to their demise in the mid-90’s. I’m not sure about you, but that spells "Bandwagoneer" to me. No wonder he likes the most-expensive team in professional sports, the New York Yankees. I guess he can hedge his bets that way.
Well, if I can give Jim "Bandwagon" Fox some advice on some great winners, it would be to start watching some of our very own athletes put on a show in their respective fields of friendly strife. First, you have law major and speed-demon Cadet Clay Schwabe winning the top collegiate spot in the mile at Philly’s Penn Relays last weekend. Next, Army softball, led by All-American Nicki Robbins and law major Shauna Evans, continues to roll through the Patriot League as they gear up for the playoffs. And lastly, after recently winning nine in-a-row, Army baseball is red-hot and pitching ‘lights out’ (that means great Jim) by recording the first-ever three-straight shutouts in USMA history last weekend to remain in the Patriot League playoff hunt.
My other advice would be to honor the law this month -- especially since Wednesday was Law Day -- and to acknowledge the great system of justice our military has to offer.
Law Day
The Office of the Staff Judge Advocate celebrated the promotion of one of their invaluable members -- Sgt. Peter Goulas -- Wednesday. Goulas, a University of Massachusetts graduate and huge hockey fan, is the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Military Justice division in the SJA office. It was a great way for us to celebrate Law Day.
Law Day offers an opportunity for Americans to highlight reliance on the "rule of law," as a means to achieve individual liberty and social justice. By establishing Law Day in 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower provided American citizens with a day to reflect on their legal heritage, especially in contrast with the former-Soviet Union’s ‘rule of force’ and dictatorship under communism. Law Day celebrations inform the public about the importance of the rule of law in our society and the important role that lawyers and the judiciary serve in guaranteeing a system of equal justice under the law.
Next week, West Point welcomes one of the top lawyers in the land, Theodore B. Olson, the 42nd Solicitor General of the United States. Olson will address the West Point community at Robinson Auditorium, Wednesday, 7:45 p.m. The entire West Point community is welcome to attend.
As the chosen lecturer for the Constitutional and Military Law course taken by all Firsties, Olson comes with the highest reputation. Before being nominated by President Bush as Solicitor General, Olson argued 15 cases as a litigator before the Supreme Court of the United States. For litigation attorneys, arguing just one case before the Supreme Court can mark an entire career. Arguing 15 cases makes you the Mark McGwire of litigation attorneys in our nation’s history.
The major function of the Solicitor General’s Office is to supervise and conduct government litigation in the United States Supreme Court. Olson joins some true American patriots. The first Solicitor General, Benjamin Bristow, was a colonel in the Civil War and took office in 1870. Some of the more notable Solicitor Generals include William Howard Taft (who later became both president of the United States and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), Robert Jackson (the Supreme Court Justice who took a leave of absence to become the lead U.S. prosecutor during the Nuremberg Trials), Archibald Cox (the Special Prosecutor assigned to Watergate) and Thurgood Marshall (noted civil rights attorney and Supreme Court Justice).
Unfortunately, the current Solicitor General suffered a personal tragedy Sept. 11 when his wife, attorney Barbara Olson, was one of the earliest victims in the terror attack. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77, which was en route from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, when it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon.
Military Justice
Just as Law Day is important to everyone, knowing the basics of the military justice system is one of the keys to being a good military leader.
Leaders are expected to take care of their troops and that includes dealing with legal issues and the military justice system. Because of its importance to leadership, the academy requires every Firstie to take Law 403 -- Constitutional and Military Law.
The purpose of military law is to promote justice, assist in maintaining good order and discipline, promote efficiency and effectiveness in the military establishment and to thereby strengthen the national security of the United States.
The cornerstone of military justice is a document almost exactly 52 years old: the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Since May 5, 1950, when passed by Congress and signed into law by President Truman, the UCMJ has balanced the commander’s need to ensure good order and discipline with the American traditions of due process and fairness.
It is imperative that young leaders know the background of military justice, especially the protections afforded under the UCMJ, because they will be responsible for both dispensing justice and enforcing discipline.
The UCMJ has led many legal commentators to argue that soldiers have more rights under the UCMJ than do civilians. Two examples often cited are the free legal services provided by high-speed and sports-savvy judge advocates (each a licensed attorney admitted to practice in a state’s highest court), and the soldiers’ Article 31 rights to remain silent (established even before the Miranda case) which applies to all soldiers suspected of a crime, not just in custodial interrogations.
The Judge Advocate General’s Corps has included members such as Supreme Court Justices John Marshall, Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski and former Secretary of the Army, Togo West.
The famous defense attorney and former judge advocate, F. Lee Bailey, said that if he were accused of a crime, he would rather be tried in a military court than in any other system of justice because of the protections afforded to accused military members.
Conclusion
Please take the time to come listen to a speech on Constitutional Law next Wednesday night or just take a moment to appreciate our system of government that holds such high regard for the rule of law.
Hopefully you’ll agree with former Attorney General Bobby Kennedy’s remarks when he said, "We are dedicated to the proposition that liberty and law are inseparable; that we truly believe social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom."
