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Military Justice and Offender Restoration

This document summarizes the case of a soldier who was court martialed for being absent without leave for less than three days to say goodbye to his family. A clemency board recommended restoring him to duty after 8.5 years of his sentence was remitted. The Secretary of War agreed and restored him to duty. The document then provides details on the treatment and rehabilitation programs for military offenders at the Disciplinary Barracks, including education, vocational training, and an honor system.

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7 views1 page

Military Justice and Offender Restoration

This document summarizes the case of a soldier who was court martialed for being absent without leave for less than three days to say goodbye to his family. A clemency board recommended restoring him to duty after 8.5 years of his sentence was remitted. The Secretary of War agreed and restored him to duty. The document then provides details on the treatment and rehabilitation programs for military offenders at the Disciplinary Barracks, including education, vocational training, and an honor system.

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EsLebeDeutschland
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

764 ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY JUSTICE .

The Adjutant General concurred in the recommendation of the commandan t


and recommended that eight and one-half years of the sentence be remitte d
and that the matter of restoration be allowed to take its normal course . A
member of the clemency board stated, in writing, as follows :
" The man ought to be restored at once, first, because apparently he ough t
never to have been tried at all, and, secondly, because according to every con-
ception of natural justice he has long since expiated his offense . His offense
was not serious at the worst. He was absent without leave less than thre e
days, and the memorandum sheet shows that he broke arrest and went absen t
without leave for the purpose of telling his parents and sisters good-by . He
pleaded guilty to these offenses . He had been in the Army but one month when
he committed this delinquency . Justice requires that he be restored, and it i s
only an adherence to routine and mere formalism that suggests that he shoul d
be retained longer for the purpose of determining whether he should be restore d
or not . The whole truth of the matter is the military authorities should neve r
have put him in a position where he would have to be restored . He should
have been with the colors all the time. Administration that balks at immediat e
restoration is the kind that brings military justice into disrepute . "
There is nothing in the record, except the unsworn statement of the soldier ,
to indicate that he went home to say good-by to his father, mother, and sister .
On March 4, 1919, six months after the soldier's trial, his father made affidavi t
in connection with an application for restoration of his son to duty . He state d
as follows :
"Just prior to his desertion from Camp Gordon he came home, and deponen t
undertook to quiet him and explain to him the situation with reference to hi s
duties and the reasons why he should remain with his company, and that hi s
said son resolved firmly that he would stay with them, but in the opinion of de-
ponent as the time approached and he heard the boys talking his fear becam e
uncontrollable. He further says that the practice on the rifle range completel y
unnerved him, and his son told deponent that he just could not stand it, and hi s
mental condition was very bad."
The Secretary of War concurred in the recommendation of the clemenc y
board, and the soldier, on April 11, 1919, was restored to duty .
The treatment of military offenders at the Disciplinary Barracks is s o
closely associated with the system of military justice that a brief outline of
the functioning of the Atlantic branch, based upon a report from the comman-
dant of that institution, dated April 15, 1919, will be set forth. (Exhibit 148. )
Every military prisoner, upon admission to the Disciplinary Barracks, is
' given a thorough mental and physical examination. Every possible source o f
information is made use of to obtain a complete history of the offender, so that ,
at the end of a month or six weeks, a reasonably accurate estimate of th e
soldier, his ability and requirements, can be arrived at . Some offenders are
mentally deficient, such as the insane, the epileptic, the feeble-minded, and thos e
addicted to drugs and alcoholics . Others show character defects, or inabilit y
to adjust themselves to any environment, as shown by truancy in school life
and lack of persistence in employment .
The treatment of the military offender in the Disciplinary Barracks has a
twofold object, first to return him to the colors a better soldier, and secondly, .
if unfitted for military service, to return him to civil life, if possible, a bette r
citizen.
Any prisoner, regardless of his offense or length of his sentence, is eligibl e
to the disciplinary battalion, if, after a thorough study of his case, he appear s
capable of being reclaimed to the military service. The battalion is remove d
from the general barracks population, and is quartered in a cantonment build-
ing. This building has neither bolts nor bars . The battalion cooks and serves
its own rations and does its own guard duty . It is under the supervision of
one commissioned and several noncommissioned officers . The discipline in th e
battalion is very strict, yet the members are given considerable liberty . If ,
after three months' intensive military training, a member of the battalion is
certified as capable of taking his place in a regular military organization, he is
recommended for restoration to the service .
The numbered men consist of those whose examinations show that the y
are not desirable for the disciplinary battalion, although some, after furthe r
observation, may prove to be so . The treatment of these men is along educa -
tional and vocational lines . Classes are conducted by experienced Y . M . C . A .
teachers .
In connection with the educational system, an honor system has been insti -
tuted among the prisoners. A recognized organization with the better element

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