A series of pertinent and impertinent observations about matters related to military justice.
The “shadowy realms” of the Internet are analyzed in THE DARK NET by Jamie Bartlett, reviewed in the Washington Post Outlook of 28 June 2015. The reviewer notes that — prior to the Internet — child pornography was scarce. The Internet has created a monster, with some 20 million unique computer IP addresses sharing child pornography files.
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The May 2015 ARMY LAWYER features several matters of interest to uniformed practitioners —
· How to handle civilian court requests for official information and government witnesses
· Efficiently handling juvenile misconduct in areas of exclusive Federal jurisdiction
· Adoption laws and processes for military personnel
Each article is accompanied by useful detailed charts.
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A letter to the editor in the Sunday 5 July 2015 Washington Post speculates on how far military society will move regarding honoring those who seceded. The letter writer asserts that the Army’s Fort A.P. Hill is named for a Confederate general who killed African American soldiers after they surrendered; Fort Bragg gets its name from a general who not only was a Confederate but also incompetent; Fort Benning honors a general who, after he got his home state of Georgia to secede from the Union, made demeaning comments about black Americans.
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Transgender military? The SPLC INTELLIGENCE newsletter for May contains an interesting thought piece on LGBT people. It maintains that they are more victimized than any other minority. Assault and harassment reportedly occur frequently. Somewhere between 41 and 51% of the transgender population has attempted suicide.
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THE CHAMPION magazine of the NACDL for May 2015 reports on attempts to repair a staggering revelation: FBI forensic examiner hair analysis contained serious misstatements in at least 90% of trial transcripts and testimony.
FBI testimony was offered in the forums of 41 states.
According to the magazine, the government identified nearly 3,000 FBI cases containing erroneous microscopic hair analysis. The author asks for similar reviews in other forensic disciplines – particularly trace evidence such as fiber, bullets, and tire impressions.