Military Law

After UK kills citizens in Syria in drone strike, critics question policy

Four years after a U.S. killing of an American-born cleric in Yemen through a drone strike sparked concern and criticism, the U.K. is facing similar questions about the drone-strike deaths last month of two British men in Syria. The target, Reynaad Khan, 21, was said to be an Islamic State…

Sep 9, 2015 2:44 PM CDT

West Point law prof resigns after arguing pacifist legal scholars could be attacked by military

A professor in West Point’s law department has resigned after claiming in a legal treatise that some U.S. legal scholars are exhibiting “pernicious pacifism” that is helping ISIS undermine America from within. The law professor, William Bradford, argued that the legal scholars who criticize the war on terror are a…

Sep 1, 2015 8:33 AM CDT

Guantanamo lawyer’s concerns about cancer cluster are being investigated

A Guantanamo lawyer’s request for an investigation into cancer deaths among those working on detainee trials has gotten the attention of the U.S. Navy. Guantanamo base spokeswoman Kelly Wirfel said in a statement that the U.S. Navy is investigating “whatever steps may be necessary” to address concerns about possible carcinogens,…

Jul 28, 2015 10:59 AM CDT

July 28, 1932: U.S. Army disperses bonus marchers

As the Great War ended, veterans returned home to find an America that seemed unprepared for them. Fueled by the labor of those who had stayed behind, including women and children, industry had flourished in their absence. Even organized labor—capitalizing on the shortage of workers—squeezed higher wages and benefits from…

Jul 1, 2015 1:10 AM CDT

ABA president seeks new US review of alleged CIA mistreatment of detainees

ABA President William C. Hubbard is asking Attorney General Loretta Lynch to conduct a new review of alleged CIA mistreatment of detainees held at overseas locations. Hubbard noted ABA policy condemning the use of torture in his letter (PDF) to Lynch, according to an ABA press release. Hubbard’s letter called…

Jun 24, 2015 11:26 AM CDT

US Senate votes to strengthen torture ban, adopts measures to help set parameters

In a 78-21 vote, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly agreed to strengthen a ban on torture as part of a defense policy bill. The National Defense Authorization Act amendment also includes provisions that limit interrogation techniques to those authorized by the Army Field Manual and require the U.S. government…

Jun 17, 2015 2:50 PM CDT

Federal appeals court narrows the type of crimes that can be tried by military commissions

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned the conspiracy conviction of Osama bin Laden’s spokesperson in an opinion that narrowed the types of crimes that can be tried by military commissions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision (PDF) that military commissions may…

Jun 15, 2015 7:36 AM CDT

US military bans discrimination based on sexual orientation

The Pentagon has adopted a new policy prohibiting discrimination against members of the U.S. military based on their sexual orienation, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Tuesday. That means those who experience such discrimination can pursue complaints with the Military Equal Opportunity program, which also investigates discrimination based on race, gender…

Jun 9, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

US-born Israeli soldier won’t be jailed for eating non-kosher sandwich

Officials say a Boston man who volunteered for combat service in Israel’s army won’t be put behind bars for eating a non-kosher sandwich after all, following an international kerfuffle over a planned 11-day jail term. Initially, Ohad Levy was not only to be jailed but booted from a training course…

Jun 3, 2015 3:05 PM CDT

John Paul Stevens says some held at Gitmo should get reparations from US government

Just as the U.S. government paid reparations to citizens of Japanese descent interned during World War II, it should now consider doing so to some individuals held at the U.S military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a retired U.S. Supreme Court justice says. In a Monday speech at a Washington,…

May 5, 2015 3:35 PM CDT

Facebook posts get day care worker fired before job begins, add 12 days to paratrooper’s enlistment

Two recent stories illustrate yet again how social media posts can land employees in deep trouble with their employers. A single mom in Texas was happy to have a new job, but couldn’t resist posting on Facebook that “I absolutely hate working at day care.” That got Kaitlyn Walls fired…

Apr 29, 2015 3:14 PM CDT

Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus gets probation, is fined $100K for giving classified info to biographer

Once a highly regarded military leader in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, retired four-star general David Petraeus on Thursday was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine for revealing classified information to his biographer and then-lover, Paula Broadwell. The fine imposed by a federal…

Apr 23, 2015 3:40 PM CDT

Blown deadline doesn’t necessarily bar tort claims against US; SCOTUS allows equitable tolling

A blown deadline doesn’t necessarily doom a tort claim against the federal government. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision (PDF) on Wednesday that courts may use equitable tolling to extend federal deadlines for bringing tort claims against the federal government because Congress had not indicated otherwise with…

Apr 22, 2015 9:36 AM CDT

‘Obsessively frugal’ lawyer leaves $3.3M to Skid Row charities

A former lawyer for the Veterans Administration who invested in stocks and lived a frugal lifestyle has left $3.3 million to Skid Row charities in his will. Delmer Clarence Kallberg was 98 when he died about a year and a half ago, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a will…

Mar 26, 2015 10:20 AM CDT

Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl, rescued by US through Gitmo prisoner swap, is charged with desertion

Captured by the Taliban in 2009 after disappearing from his post in Afghanistan, an American soldier was then rescued last year in a controversial prisoner exchange. Now he has been charged with desertion by the U.S. Army. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was a private first class when he disappeared, also…

Mar 25, 2015 3:30 PM CDT