Bowling v. United States

552 F. Supp. 54, 1 Cl. Ct. 15, 1982 U.S. Claims LEXIS 2302
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedNovember 19, 1982
DocketNo. 679-81C
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 552 F. Supp. 54 (Bowling v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bowling v. United States, 552 F. Supp. 54, 1 Cl. Ct. 15, 1982 U.S. Claims LEXIS 2302 (cc 1982).

Opinion

ON CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

OPINION

WHITE, Judge.

The plaintiff, a former Specialist Four (E-4) in the Army, was discharged with a bad-conduct discharge pursuant to a conviction and sentence by a special court-martial. He asks this court to vacate his conviction and sentence, to order his reinstatement to his previous rank of Specialist Four in the Army, and to make an award of back pay to him.

As the parties are in agreement concerning the facts essential to the disposition of the case, they have filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

Having considered the briefs of the parties and heard oral argument, it is concluded that, in view of the rather narrow scope of the review which civil courts are empowered to exercise over the judgments of courts-martial, this court cannot properly grant the relief which the plaintiff seeks.

Judgments by courts-martial are not subject to direct review by federal civil courts. Collateral review of such judgments, however, has long been available under certain circumstances. A commonly used method of obtaining collateral review has been the filing of actions for back pay with this court’s predecessor, the United States Court of Claims. See, e.g., Gallagher v. United States, 191 Ct.Cl. 546, 423 F.2d 1371, cert. denied, 400 U.S. 849, 91 S.Ct. 58, 27 L.Ed.2d 86 (1970); McDonald v. United States, 205 Ct.Cl. 780, 507 F.2d 1271 (1974).

[18]*18In this connection, it should be mentioned that Article 76 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (10 U.S.C. § 876) expressly states that “all dismissals and discharges carried into execution under sentences by courts-martial following approval, review, or affirmation as required by this chapter, are final and conclusive. * * * ” The Supreme Court, however, held in Schlesinger v. Councilman, 420 U.S. 738, 95 S.Ct. 1300, 43 L.Ed.2d 591 (1975), that Article 76 does not bar a federal civil court, in an action otherwise within its subject-matter jurisdiction, from considering a collateral attack on a court-martial judgment which raises a question as to whether such judgment is void on constitutional grounds. Hence, as the Court of Claims said in Augenblick v. United States, 180 Ct.Cl. 131, 143, 377 F.2d 586, 593 (1967), rev’d on other grounds, 393 U.S. 348, 89 S.Ct. 528, 21 L.Ed.2d 537 (1969), Article 76 did not make decisions by courts-martial “truly final.”

In the present case, the plaintiff having filed an action within this court’s subject-matter jurisdiction, and having based the action on allegations to the effect that his court-martial conviction and sentence were void on constitutional grounds, the court has jurisdiction to consider and dispose of the collateral attack thus presented.

In exercising the power of collateral review over court-martial judgments, federal civil courts have experienced considerable difficulty in determining the proper scope of such review. In Burns v. Wilson, 346 U.S. 137, 73 S.Ct. 1045, 97 L.Ed. 1508 (1953), the Supreme Court indicated that federal civil courts should confine their review to a determination of whether, in a particular instance, the court-martial acted within its personal and subject-matter jurisdiction and whether it gave “fair consideration” (id. at 144, 73 S.Ct. at 1050) to allegations of constitutional error.

In applying the “fair consideration” test, some appellate courts have held that the review of a court-martial judgment on a collateral attack should end once it is determined that the military courts heard and considered the claims of constitutional error made by the accused in the court-martial proceedings. See, e.g., Easley v. Hunter, 209 F.2d 483, 487 (10th Cir.1953); Sunday v. Madigan, 301 F.2d 871, 873 (9th Cir.1962). More recent appellate decisions, however, have tended to apply the “fair consideration” test only to the factual findings of courts-martial. Under this fact/law distinction, civil courts have concluded that they may independently decide questions of constitutional law raised in a collateral attack on a court-martial judgment, irrespective of whether such legal questions were considered by the military courts. See, e.g., Shaw v. United States, 174 Ct.Cl. 899, 904-05, 357 F.2d 949, 954 (1966); Kennedy v. Commandant, 377 F.2d 339, 342 (10th Cir.1967); Harris v. Ciconne, 417 F.2d 479, 481 (8th Cir.1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1078, 90 S.Ct. 1528, 25 L.Ed.2d 813 (1970).

It appears that the Court of Claims adopted the fact/law distinction in considering the constitutional claims of individuals challenging court-martial judgments. In Shaw v. United States, supra, the court stated that it could review “pure issues of constitutional law, unentangled with an appraisal of a special set of facts” (174 Ct.Cl. at 905, 357 F.2d at 954; see also Augenblick v. United States, supra, 180 Ct.Cl. at 143-44, 377 F.2d at 593). On the other hand, the Court of Claims said that questions of fact resolved by the military courts could not be collaterally attacked. See, e.g., Flute v. United States, 210 Ct.Cl. 34, 38, 535 F.2d 624, 626 (1976) (“[t]his court does not have the authority to retry the facts of a court-martial proceeding nor to act as a reviewing court of the decisions of the court-martial tribunal”); Taylor v. United States, 199 Ct.Cl. 171, 174 (1972) (“[t]his court will not reweigh the evidence presented at plaintiff’s court-martial in order that it might substitute its judgment for that of the military trial court”); Artis v. United States, 205 Ct.Cl. 732, 740, 506 F.2d 1387, 1391 (1974) (“we have no authority to retry the facts of a court-martial proceeding”).

Moreover, the Court of Claims said that, even in matters of constitutional law, the [19]*19military courts “must be allowed a reasonable scope for the exercise of judgment” in determining “how much is necessary to be done to effectuate a constitutional right they are aware of and manifestly respect.” Flute v. United States, supra, 210 Ct.Cl. at 39, 535 F.2d at 627.

Decisions by the Supreme Court subsequent to the Burns decision have not ended the confusion surrounding the scope of review by federal civil courts of court-martial judgments. It is certain, however, that the civil courts can properly review only claims rising to the “constitutional level.” United States v. Augenblick,

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552 F. Supp. 54, 1 Cl. Ct. 15, 1982 U.S. Claims LEXIS 2302, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bowling-v-united-states-cc-1982.