Thursday, October 11, 2007

S. 2052 co-sponsors

The Kabul Klipper notes below that Senator Feinstein has introduced S. 2052 to expand the Supremes' statutory cert jurisdiction over military justice cases. The bill has two co-sponsors: Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Here's a link to the bill's Thomas status page.

1 comment:

John O'Connor said...

Would it be hypertechnical of me to note that this bill, if enacted, wouldn't really put servicemembers on the same footing as civilians? This bill, at least as explained in Senator Feinstein's press release, would open the door to a cert petition only if the approved sentence meets the Article 66 threshiold for CCA review. Civilians can file a cert petition for less severe sentences.

Oh, and the high-frequency event whereby JAGs certify SCMs over to a CCA for Article 66 review would get them review by a CCA and potentially the CAAF, but the bill as desctribed by Senator Feinstein wouldn't give them the right to seek cert if the CAAF denies review.

I haven't really formed an opinion on whether this bill is worthwhile or not, but those who claim that it would create civilian/soldier parity are full of it.