Re: Re: Court Martial is not the same as Federal Court
The answer is never. The Uniform Code of Justice always applys. This is also the rules that allow a superior officer to shoot you for dereliction of duty or failure to obey a command during a time of war.
Honestly, I'm rather surprised that Mr. Manning wasn't charged with Espionage given that he stole classified documents and passed them to a foreign national. Given how many documents there were I doubt he had time to read them all and make sure they didn't have any military secrets or anything that would endanger troops.
But here is the thing.. If I choose to break the law because my moral code says it needs to be broken, then I expect I will also be charged with a crime. We do not normally allow an individuals moral code to allow them to break the law, there are to many variances to consider that a good way to promote justice.
If my moral code says it's ok to driver faster than the speed limit it doesn't get me out of a traffic ticket. If my moral code says it's ok to shoot a girl for going to school on a bus it doesn't get me out of murder charges. If my moral code says it's ok to use harsh capital punishment on my child it doesn't get me out of child protection laws being used to put me in jail.
At some point, I.. like every other human being.. has to decide where it's important to take a stand and where it's not. Bradley Manning found his point and chose to make his stand there. This doesn't get him out of punishment for how he went about doing it.
I know that I don't want political parties sifting through classified documents and deciding what to whistleblow on to best get their candidate into office.
To me, the best answer is to change how we classify documents and make government more open. But under the laws now I can't see how Bradley Manning can avoid some level of punishment to prevent worse results later on.
Ok folks, a Court Martial is not the same thing as a federal court. Bradly Manning is being court martialed and may, indeed, end up in jail for the rest of his life... but the president would have to change the Uniform Code of Justice to affect that case.
To the best I can find out, the law that covers Bradly Manning is 10 USC § 1034 ( http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/1034 ) Please note that this doesn't let you talk to whomever you want to, it limits you to the chain of command, the inspector general, and congress.
On the post: Obama Signs 'Whistleblower Protection Act' The Same Day That Whistleblower Bradley Manning Is In Court
Re: Re: Court Martial is not the same as Federal Court
Honestly, I'm rather surprised that Mr. Manning wasn't charged with Espionage given that he stole classified documents and passed them to a foreign national. Given how many documents there were I doubt he had time to read them all and make sure they didn't have any military secrets or anything that would endanger troops.
But here is the thing.. If I choose to break the law because my moral code says it needs to be broken, then I expect I will also be charged with a crime. We do not normally allow an individuals moral code to allow them to break the law, there are to many variances to consider that a good way to promote justice.
If my moral code says it's ok to driver faster than the speed limit it doesn't get me out of a traffic ticket. If my moral code says it's ok to shoot a girl for going to school on a bus it doesn't get me out of murder charges. If my moral code says it's ok to use harsh capital punishment on my child it doesn't get me out of child protection laws being used to put me in jail.
At some point, I.. like every other human being.. has to decide where it's important to take a stand and where it's not. Bradley Manning found his point and chose to make his stand there. This doesn't get him out of punishment for how he went about doing it.
I know that I don't want political parties sifting through classified documents and deciding what to whistleblow on to best get their candidate into office.
To me, the best answer is to change how we classify documents and make government more open. But under the laws now I can't see how Bradley Manning can avoid some level of punishment to prevent worse results later on.
Boojum
On the post: Obama Signs 'Whistleblower Protection Act' The Same Day That Whistleblower Bradley Manning Is In Court
Court Martial is not the same as Federal Court
To the best I can find out, the law that covers Bradly Manning is 10 USC § 1034 ( http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/1034 ) Please note that this doesn't let you talk to whomever you want to, it limits you to the chain of command, the inspector general, and congress.
You can see more information on this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Whistleblower_Protection_Act and browse through the references. It's interesting reading.
Boojum
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