Peter1469
03-28-2014, 06:20 PM
UCMJ: Unlawful Command Influence (http://www.stripes.com/judge-obama-sex-assault-comments-unlawful-command-influence-1.225974#.UzXP1U1OUfQ)
I have posted several threads about sexual assault in the military and have mentioned the concept of unlawful command influence (UCI) before. Basically leaders (civilian and military) can't create an environment where they make potential panel (jury) members believe that certain results are required in future courts-martial.
A Navy judge has ruled on a defense pre-trial motion in two sex crimes cases: the accused (defendants) can't receive a punitive discharge because of UCI; and UCI directly from the commander in chief. This is what Obama said.
“The bottom line is: I have no tolerance for this,” Obama said, according to an NBC News story submitted as evidence by defense attorneys in the sexual assault cases.
‘I expect consequences,” Obama added. “So I don’t just want more speeches or awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this, they’ve got to be held accountable — prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period.”
Now the way you fix this is to have the creator of the UCI (in this case Obama) issue a curative statement. Basically it tells prospective panel members that they must exercise their personal judgement in applying facts to law in specific future courts-martial. It is too easy and I could draft a statement for him in 15 minutes that would fix this nonsense.
But until that happens, I expect that all sexual crimes courts-martial in the military are going to be tainted by this.
I have posted several threads about sexual assault in the military and have mentioned the concept of unlawful command influence (UCI) before. Basically leaders (civilian and military) can't create an environment where they make potential panel (jury) members believe that certain results are required in future courts-martial.
A Navy judge has ruled on a defense pre-trial motion in two sex crimes cases: the accused (defendants) can't receive a punitive discharge because of UCI; and UCI directly from the commander in chief. This is what Obama said.
“The bottom line is: I have no tolerance for this,” Obama said, according to an NBC News story submitted as evidence by defense attorneys in the sexual assault cases.
‘I expect consequences,” Obama added. “So I don’t just want more speeches or awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this, they’ve got to be held accountable — prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period.”
Now the way you fix this is to have the creator of the UCI (in this case Obama) issue a curative statement. Basically it tells prospective panel members that they must exercise their personal judgement in applying facts to law in specific future courts-martial. It is too easy and I could draft a statement for him in 15 minutes that would fix this nonsense.
But until that happens, I expect that all sexual crimes courts-martial in the military are going to be tainted by this.