Military Legal Materials
Leah Sandwell-Weiss, Reference Librarian
Military Criminal Law
- Article I, Section 8: "The Congress shall have the Power . . . [t]o provide for the organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States."
- The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. §§ 801 - 946. Also reprinted in Appendix A2 of the Manual for Courts-Martial.
- Manual for Courts-Martial - Now printed annually by the GPO. Contains Rules for Courts-Martial, Military Rules of Evidence, punitive articles, forms, guides (scripts) for general and special courts-martial, etc. Location: Law Government Docs D 1.15:[year]. The 2012 edition is available in PDF format at www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/mcm.pdf. [NOTE: This is a very large file (884 pages) and may take a long time to load.]
- Regulations - Many regulations establish additional procedures or contain
provisions which can be enforced through prosecution. Regulations are available
on the internet at the following sites:
- Department of Defense Directives: www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/dir.html
- Air Force Publications: www.e-publishing.af.mil/
- Army Publications: www.apd.army.mil/
- Navy Publications: http://doni.daps.dla.mil/navyregs.aspx
- Marine Publications: www.marines.mil/News/Publications/ELECTRONICLIBRARY.aspx
- Military Justice Regulations:
- Air Force: Air Force Instruction 51-201, Administration of Military Justice, 21 December 2007, incorporating Change 1, 3 February 2010, http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_ja/publication/afi51-201/afi51-201.pdf [PDF]
- Army: Army Reg. No. 27-10, Military Justice, effective 3 November 2011, www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r27_10.pdf [PDF]
- Navy/Marines: Manual of the Judge Advocate General (JAGMAN) (JAGINST 5800.7E, 20 June 2007, http://doni.daps.dla.mil/SECNAV%20Manuals1/5800.7E.pdf [PDF]; Change 1, http://doni.daps.dla.mil/SECNAV%20Manuals1/5800.7E%20CH-1.pdf [PDF], 5 May 2008; Change 2, http://doni.daps.dla.mil/SECNAV%20Manuals1/JAGINST%205800.7E%20CH-2.pdf [PDF], 16 September 2008
- Case Law - Military defendants have an automatic right to appeal in most
cases. The first level of appeal consists of the Courts of Criminal Appeal
for each of the different branches of the service (the Navy and Marines
have a joint court). Judges on these courts are active duty or reserve
judge advocates. These courts were originally called Boards of Review and
then Courts of Military Review. The highest level of appeal is the United
States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, formerly known as the Court
of Military Appeals. The Court is made up of civilian judges. Military
defendants can now appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
- Courts-Martial Reports (C.M.R.) (1951 until 1975). Location: Law Government Docs D 1.29:[volume number]
- Military Justice Reporter (M.J.) (1975 - present). Location: Law unclassified. Shelved at end of the federal reporters. Our subscription cancelled; last volume is Vol. 67, 2009.
- Cases can also be found on Westlaw in the Military Justice Cases (MJ) database; on WestlawNext under Military Court Cases; and on Lexis in the topic area of Military & Veterans Law.
- Military Court Websites:
- US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces: www.armfor.uscourts.gov/; has opinions beginning in October 1996.
- Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals: http://afcca.law.af.mil/; has published opinions beginning in 2002.
- Army Court of Criminal Appeals: www.jagcnet.army.mil/acca; has opinions beginning in late 1995.
- Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals: http://www.jag.navy.mil/nmcca.htm; has opinions from 2004.
- Treatises - The following are several useful books concerning military justice. Note that since these are published by LexisNexis, most, if not all, are available on Lexis online.
- Court-Martial Procedure, by Francis A. Gilligan & Fredric I. Lederer (3d ed., LexisNexis 2006). 3 vols. & 2008 Supplement. Location: Law KF 7625 .G55 2006.
- Military Criminal Justice: Practice and Procedure, by David A. Schlueter (7th ed., LexisNexis 2008). Location: Law KF 7620 .S34 2008.
- Military Criminal Procedure Forms, by Kenneth V. Jansen et al. (3d ed., LexisNexis 2009). Location: Law KF 7620 .A65 M55 2009.
- Military Evidentiary Foundations, by David A. Schlueter et al. (4th ed., LexisNexis 2010). Location: Law KF 7628 .M55 2010.
- Military Rules of Evidence Manual, by Stephen A. Saltzburg, Lee D. Schinasi, & David A. Schlueter (7th ed., LexisNexis 2011). 2 vols. Location: Law KF 7628 .S34 2011.
- Military Justice: Cases and Materials, by Eugene R. Fidell, Elizabeth L. Hillman, & Dwight H. Sullivan (LexisNexis 2007 & Statutory Supp. 2007). Location: Law 7620 .F53 2007.
- Articles & Other Resources
- Air War College - Military Law & Legal Links (updated/reviewed 12 May 2011): www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc-law.htm
- Philip Carter, The Seven Basic Myths about Military Justice: Why It’s Much Fairer To Defendants Than You May Have Been Led to Think, available at http://writ.news.findlaw.com/student/20021218_carter.html (Dec 18, 2002).
- Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service & R. Chuck Mason, Military Justice: Courts-Martial, An Overview, www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41739.pdf (Mar. 14, 2012).
- Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service & Ann C. Henning, Supreme Court Appellate Jurisdiction Over Military Court Cases, www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34697.pdf (Mar. 5, 2009).
- Eugene R. Fidell & Dwight H. Sullivan eds., Evolving Military Justice (Naval Institute Press 2002). Location: KF 7620 .E94 2002.
- Military Law Sourcebook (ABA Publishing 2012). Location: Law Reference KF 7209 .M58 2012. Compilation of materials relevant to military law, including Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Federal Torts Claims Act, Lieber Code, Geneva Conventions, etc.
- JAG Websites
- Air Force: www.afjag.af.mil/
- Army: https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/
- Navy: www.jag.navy.mil/
- Marines: www.marines.mil/unit/judgeadvocate/Pages/Home/SJA_to_the_CMC.aspx
Other Military-Related Legal Issues
Veterans - Reference Books
- Federal Veterans Laws, Rules and Regulations (LexisNexis 2011). Location: Law Reference KF 7709 .F31.
- Veterans Benefits Manual (Barton F. Stichman et al. eds., LexisNexis 2011). Location: Law Reference KF 7709 .V47.
- Veteran Preference Employment Statutes: A State-by-State and Federal Government Handbook, by V.I. Brown (McFarland 2000). Location: KF 3460 .Z95 B76 2001.
Veterans - Case Law
- Veterans Appeals Reporter (1992 - present). Location: Law unclassified. Shelved at end of the federal reporters in the compact shelving, Row 155. Our subscription cancelled; last volume is Vol. 23, 2010.
- Cases can also be found on Westlaw in the Federal Military Law - United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (FMIL-VA) database; on WestlawNext under U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; and on Lexis in the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CVA) database and under the Military & Veterans Law topic.
Veterans - Websites
- Department of Veterans Affairs: www.va.gov/
- Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims: www.uscourts.cavc.gov/; has opinions beginning in 1989.
- Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors, 2010 Edition: www1.va.gov/opa/publications/benefits_book.asp.
- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) Research Guide: www.law.arizona.edu/Library/Research/Guides/USERRA/default.cfm
- George R. Wood & Ossai Miazad eds., The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (ABA 2009). Location: Law 3460 .U53 2009.
Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA)
- Pub. L. No. 97-252 § 1001 et seq., 96 Stat. 730 (1982), as amended.
- Military Retirement Benefits in Divorce, Marshal S. Willick (American Bar Association 1998). Location: Law KF 7275 .W55 1998.
- The Complete QDRO Handbook: Dividing ERISA, Military, and Civil Service Pensions and Collection Child Support from Employee Benefit Plans, David Clayton Carrad (3d ed., American Bar Association 2009). Location: Law KF 3512 .C37 2009. Chapter 11 covers the division of military retired pay.
- The Military Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide to Representing Military Personnel and Their Families, Mark E. Sullivan (2d ed., American Bar Association 2011). Location: Law KF 535 .S85 2011.
- Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act Legal Overview: www.dfas.mil/dfas/garnishment/usfspa/legal.html
- USFSPA FAQs: www.dfas.mil/dfas/garnishment/usfspa/faqs.html
- Application for Former Spouse Payments from Retired Pay (DD Form 2293): www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd2293.pdf [PDF]
- Garnishment: www.dfas.mil/dfas/garnishment.html
Military Information for Lawyers
- A Judge’s Benchbook for the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, John S. Odom (ABA Publishing 2011). Location: Law KF 7680 .O326 2011.
- Military Service and the Law, Joseph Butler & Brian Clauss eds. (ABA Publishing 2010). Location: Law KF 7745 .M55 2010.
- Veterans Appeals Guidebook: Representing Veterans in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Ron Smith ed. (ABA 2013). Location: Law KF 7713 .V48 2013.
- ABA Home Front - Legal Resources for Military Families: www.americanbar.org/portals/public_resources/aba_home_front.html
Page Updated: 30 April 2013