I think that the federal court in this case is over stepping its bounds. The Military courts did what they are supposed to do and this sends a clear message to military members that they do not have to abide by the military courts and have their cases looked at by federal courts instead.
KN,
I agree with you. There is a military court system for a reason. Those in the military are held to a different standard than civilians. And there is no draft so we volunteer to be held to that standard. Case in point, as an officer I did not have free speech. I was not allowed to speak ill of the President, anyone in the chain of command, or an elected official of the state I was stationed in. If I did I could have been tried for sedition. Now, enlisted couldn't do that either but it wasn't sedition, that's only for officers. That is some of the intricacies of the military court system that the civilian may not know about and certainly doesn't understand.
All that said, I think there was enough doubt that this guys petition to reopen the case should have been granted. Rather than look at the evidence it sounds to me like they looked at the crime and were so disgusted by it they summarily refused his petition. Here's the thing, it should be decided only on the merit of the evidence or lack of merit. Maybe the military needs to do a review of their relook of this case… maybe.
That is what military lawyers are for. He could have them relook at the crime. The fact that they stated his military record was over looked means that they are wanting to say "Hey here is model soldier that should not be disciplined" That is all horse manure in my book as it has no bearing on this case. While there is a lot not said about this case there is a lot about it that makes people wonder.
Yeah, but for the civilian judge to overturn the decision of a military court there may be something else to it. Something the military overlooked because they were more worried about the severity of the charge rather than the merits of the appeal. That is my take on this and that should never happen. Unless the defense just happened to find a bleeding heart who wanted to give this guy another chance… which is possible.