A Kangaroo Court By Any Other Name Is ...

NMB, Florida November 30, 2001 A.H. Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.

A KANGAROO COURT BY ANY OTHER NAME IS.

A Kangaroo Court by any other name, such as a military court, is still a
Kangaroo Court. I should know. I was called to a meeting and found that I
was facing charges and would be judged right then and there.

I think that the whole concept of military justice is fraught with
problems. The military system is one where sentences are served under the
strictest rules of behavior and where punishment is meted out as a matter of
course. It is expected that the convict is to serve the sentence bravely
without complaint. For him to do otherwise will be proof of his
unsuitability to "serve" and usually he is thrown out of the "service" and
given less than an honorable discharge. This ending of service, sometimes
after being unwillingly inducted through a draft, follows a person forever
as a smear on his record.

This is not to say that the ATTEMPT to bring justice to the military is not
well intentioned. But, under military conditions, where a war is engaged,
the speed, haste and ad-hoc nature does not provide the kind of situation
where the accused is innocent until proven guilty. The onus is on the
charged if it gets that far. When in haste to proceed and get back to the
war, the charge is often proof of guilt.

I am not against the military. We probably have one of the best of the
type in the world. Saying that, I still think that the current haste with
which the Bush Administration is attempting to use "Military Courts" and
"Military Justice" at this early stage in our dealing with the whole Arab
and Islamic World is unjustified. Our courts and our traditions giving the
benefit of the doubt to the charged should not be omitted in our enraged
pursuit of shadowy miscreants.

We all know Osama Bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein are the chief examples of
rogue leaders who are attacking our Western culture. But they deserve to be
brought to justice and given it in civilian courts. A civilian is still the
leader of the American military, is he not? Carol's Evaluation: 9 out of 10.