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Military Justice System Improvements

This document discusses the establishment of military justice and the controversy surrounding it. It notes that the controversy has not affected the work or personal relations of officers in the Division of Military Justice. It also discusses General Order No. 7 and 84 and amendments to military procedures. The speaker expresses that both General Crowder and General Ansell have made improvements to bring military law more in line with civil criminal law.

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9 views1 page

Military Justice System Improvements

This document discusses the establishment of military justice and the controversy surrounding it. It notes that the controversy has not affected the work or personal relations of officers in the Division of Military Justice. It also discusses General Order No. 7 and 84 and amendments to military procedures. The speaker expresses that both General Crowder and General Ansell have made improvements to bring military law more in line with civil criminal law.

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EsLebeDeutschland
Copyright
© 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

800 ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY JUSTICE .

sion, who, in my opinion, is an officer of unusual ability and capacity, ha s


insisted at all times that no discussions in connection with this controvers y
should affect the work of his division . I think I can speak with assuranc e
that it has in no way colored the action of the Chief of the Military Justice
Division or the board of review acting under him .
Q . To what extent, if any, has this controversy and the discussions to whic h
you refer affected the personal relations of the officers in the Division of Mili-
tary Justice?A . So far as I know, sir, they have not affected the relations o f
the officers of the Military Justice Division at all .
Q. Have they, so far as you know, in any degree affected the personal relation s
between Gen . Crowder or Gen . Ansell on the one side and other officers in the
department on the other?A . It is rather difficult, sir, for me to answer tha t
question because most of the communications which either Gen . Crowder o r
Gen . Ansell have had with the Military Justice Division have been through th e
head of the division, Col . Read, and I have seen no indication that the relation s
which existed before this situation arose have been affected by it . I have no t
noticed that either Gen . Crowder or Gen . Ansell have given any signs of per-
- sonal feeling toward any officer growing out of the situation in question .
Q . You are familiar with General Order No . 7, 1918, and General Order No .
84?A. Yes, sir.
Q . Are you familiar with the discussions of memoranda from the Judge Advo-
cate General's Office preliminary to and in connection with the issuance o f
General Order No . 84 amending General Order No . 7?A . I don't believe, sir,
that I can say that I am . I was present at a discussion with reference to the
provisions of General Orders, No . 84, but I recall no information by way o f
memoranda or otherwise preliminary to that except one case, where the com-
manding general of the S . O . S . refused to follow the recommendation of the
Acting Judge Advocate General in France .
Q . Just what do you mean by saying you were present at a conference regard-
ing the wording of General Order No . 84?-A . I was present at a conference
where, as I recall it, some time ago the question of phrasing an order that woul d
go somewhat further than General Order No . 7 had gone would be prepared, an d
the question of my connection with it was merely as to the matter of phrase-
ology, as to how it should be worded to accomplish what it actually did accom-
plish. In regard to the question as to whether there was anything of a surrepti-
tious character in connection with the preparation of that order, I recall tha t
somebody made a suggestion as to whether Gen . McIntyre would agree with
that, and in my own mind, as it was published, I concluded that Gen . McIntyre
approved it .
Q. Do you associate that particular case with a discussion relative to th e
wording of General Orders, No . 84?-A . That I do not recall, sir . That was `th e
very thing, sir, I was trying to recall, and I can't recall whether that was th e
exact occasion or whether they were simply coincidental .
Q. Is there anything further you wish to state?A. In addition to the experi-
ence of one year as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Department, I
have been interested in the administration of the civil criminal law for abou t
13 years and have made studies of the systems in England . Scotland, an d
Canada, the first two under the auspices of the then President Taft . From the
point of view of a civilian lawyer with this experience, as well as an officer of th e
Judge Advocate General's Department, I have been impressed with the fac t
that both Gen . Crowder and Gen . Ansell have done a great deal to improve th e
administration of the military law and toward making, it accord in spirit an d
in practice with the improvements in the administration of the civil crimina l
law . For instance, Gen . Crowder, I understand, was responsible for the creation
of the disciplinary barracks, with the accompanying feature of the indeter-
minate sentence, and also instituted the system of the suspended sentence, both
the indeterminate sentence and the suspended sentence being regarded as pro-
pressive of modern penology . Gen . Ansell during my connection with the offic e
on a number of occasions referred to the fact that in instances courts-martia l
were imposing what seemed to be excessive sentences and took steps in so fa r
as he had the power or influence to bring about the reduction of such sentences .
To my mind, although I speak with certain hesitancy regarding this particula r
matter, the creation of the board of review by Gen . Ansell, giving it in effect an d
in substance, though of course not officially, the functions of an appellat e
tribunal, was a most important step toward securing an adequate review o f
court-martial records and toward the consequent securing of substantial justic e
in the administration of the military law . In view of these considerations it

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