The Boston Globe and Defense News have picked up on Peter Singer’s scoop — that military contractors are now going to be subject to soldiers’ justice.
Neither the Globe nor Defense News could find any big defense contractor to comment on the five-word change to the law, spearheaded by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and former JAG. But they’ve caught the legal and private military interest groups squirming.
Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, an organization that represents government contractors, tells Defense News that “one result [of the rule change] may be that contractors now can be punished for actions not ordinarily prosecutable under U.S. law.”
The UCMJs “behavioral requirements are very different and potentially in conflict with contract law and criminal law,” Soloway said…
Civilian contractors now might be punished for disrespecting an officer, disregarding an order or committing adultery actions that are not prosecutable under U.S. law, Soloway said.
“If a general or colonel directs a contractor or government civilian to do something that is outside terms of contract, under U.S. procurement law, the contractor does not do it without authority from the contracting officer,” Soloway said. But under the UCMJ, “that might be failure to follow an order.”
“I think there should have been some kind of hearing before Congress passed this measure,” Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, tells the Globe.
“Ultimately, if this power is used, it will create a substantial issue that would likely reach the Supreme Court, and it will put us at odds with contemporary international standards.“
Fidell said that US courts have a history of throwing out convictions of civilians who were tried in military courts, including the 1957 case of a wife who killed her husband on a military base.
“There was a period of decades that you could have crimes by US persons overseas that could never be punished,” he said.
Hopefully, that will start to change.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
is that an m-8 that merc is sporting? i was told the composites the stock is made from starts to get red hot after prolonged firing. the israeli magal suffered from almost the same problem, but they fixed it. why did they can the xm-8?
Recommendations:
Hire ex Vets over 40 BUT active physically
Good Pay
Train with NG Unit or Reserve Unit.
Estd Guidelines
Train, train, train, train.
Share Intel
Place under Vendor guidelines IE subcontractors say to JSF project or Deepwater???
Same for those companies.
Hell Yes Id love to serve in the Pvt sector role
Under the above conditions.
with 1 order:
IF FIRED UPON, RETURN FIRE.
NO abusing the locals unless said locals home is lobbing RPGs etc at your Unit or Men.
Rambo 4 makes the mercs look like losers or the leader of those mercs in Rambo 4.
True or false depiction
Cant see some SAS leader being to arrogant etc during a mission.
Crazy & heres Rambo Amnerican made having more sense (save Schoolboy- the sniper).
Comments
thank you admin very good