Military Law

Prosecutor calls Manning a traitor at WikiLeaks case closing; defense says he was young and naive

Pfc. Bradley Manning is a traitor who joined the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq with the intention of using his computer skills to disclose classified information that he knew would aid terrorist organizations throughout the world, a prosecutor said in closing arguments at his court martial. “He was not…

Jul 26, 2013 5:30 PM CDT

Decades after Vietnam War, dealing with Agent Orange is still on US lawmakers’ agenda

Residents of Vietnam, like American soldiers, apparently have been adversely affected by some 20 million gallons of Agent Orange used there by the U.S. Air Force as a defoliant before the Vietnam War ended in 1975. But while the U.S. has spent billions in medical costs and disability benefits concerning…

Jul 24, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

Judge in Bradley Manning leak case refuses to toss charge of aiding the enemy

A military judge has refused to dismiss a charge of aiding the enemy against Bradley Manning, a soldier accused of providing classified documents to WikiLeaks. Col. Denise Lind based her decision on evidence that some of the leaked documents were posted on the Internet and read by Osama bin Laden,…

Jul 18, 2013 3:22 PM CDT

Sex-assault reports cut by 60 percent after Navy starts program focused on recruit training, alcohol

Amidst widespread recognition that sexual harassment and even sexual assault of subordinates, colleagues and outsiders is a problem in the U.S. military, one Navy base seems to have found a solution. At the Great Lakes naval station north of Chicago, officials have designed a boot camp training program that greets…

Jul 8, 2013 8:40 PM CDT

New Veterans Legal Corps will send lawyers and law students to legal-aid groups

Low-income and homeless veterans will be getting legal help from a new program that deploys lawyers and law students to legal aid groups and courts across the country. Equal Justice Works announced the new Veterans Legal Corps in a press release last week. Funded with money from AmeriCorps, the three-year…

Jul 1, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

Hasan’s pro se defense at trial over Fort Hood slayings raises ethical issues for standby counsel

After a decision by a military judge earlier this month that Maj. Nidal Hasan can represent himself in a looming trial over the 2009 massacre of military personnel at Fort Hood, the 42-year-old Army psychiatrist has been at odds with his fired former defense lawyers who now represent him as…

Jun 12, 2013 6:20 PM CDT

Leaked emails that led to exposure of Petraeus affair violated socialite’s privacy, suit claims

Tampa socialite Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott, have filed a lawsuit claiming the government violated their privacy by improperly disclosing emails that led to an FBI investigation and exposure of former Gen. David Petraeus’ affair with his biographer. Kelley had complained to the FBI about harassing emails from an…

Jun 4, 2013 2:13 PM CDT

Is the VA compensating too many veterans for sleep apnea? Lawyer writes his congressman

A Florida lawyer says he is seeing an unusual number of veterans receiving disability benefits for sleep apnea in his family law practice. Michael Webster, a lawyer in Shalimar, Fla., has decided that the boom in such payments is a scam, and he is asking his congressman to do something…

Jun 4, 2013 11:30 AM CDT

Court-martial begins in WikiLeaks case for soldier Bradley Manning

A military trial opened Monday at Fort Meade, Md., for a soldier accused of providing to WikiLeaks a massive trove of classified documents that some consider more momentous than the Pentagon Papers provided to the New York Times nearly 40 years ago concerning the Vietnam War. Pfc. Bradley Manning is…

Jun 3, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Conviction for suicide attempt reversed by top military court in narrow ruling

The military’s highest court has reversed the conviction of a serviceman who slit his wrists in a case that was closely watched because of the debate over such prosecutions. The 3-2 decision in the case of Pvt. Lazzaric Caldwell was narrow, however, and didn’t address whether or when cases of…

May 1, 2013 3:34 PM CDT

Bombing suspect charged at bedside, to be tried in civilian courts

Updated: The White House on Monday put to rest speculation about how the prosecution against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev would proceed. The administration announced that Tsarnaev would be tried on terrorism charges under civilian law, the Associated Press reports. A court official confirmed that Tsarnaev was charged under…

Apr 22, 2013 5:14 PM CDT

Chicago-area teen accused of supporting terrorism overseas

Federal authorities have arrested a Chicago-area teenager who they maintain was on his way to Syria to join a jihadist militant group. The FBI arrested Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, 18, at O’Hare Airport last Friday while he was attempting to board a flight bound for Istanbul, Turkey, according to stories in…

Apr 22, 2013 11:39 AM CDT

4 GOP lawmakers push for Boston bombing suspect to be declared an enemy combatant

Four Republican lawmakers have urged President Obama to declare the captured Boston Marathon bombing suspect an enemy combatant while the investigation into the chain of events continues. But the New York Times points out that while suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a naturalized American citizen and a Muslim, there is no…

Apr 22, 2013 10:49 AM CDT

Military judge postpones 9/11 cases due to ‘nearly catastrophic server crash’ in Pentagon system

A military judge overseeing the cases of detainees accused of plotting the 9/11, terrorist attacks has postponed hearings scheduled for next week after what a Pentagon official described as “a nearly catastrophic server crash.” Defense lawyers had previously complained about document losses and confidential email provided to prosecutors, which resulted…

Apr 17, 2013 5:50 PM CDT

US tortured after 9/11, says independent Constitution Project panel report

In the most ambitious effort so far by an independent, bipartisan group to assess American detention and interrogation programs after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a Constitution Project panel has concluded that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture” in its treatment of detainees. In…

Apr 17, 2013 5:10 PM CDT