Curry v. Secretary of the Army

439 F. Supp. 261, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13198
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedOctober 31, 1977
DocketCiv. A. No. 77-717
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 439 F. Supp. 261 (Curry v. Secretary of the Army) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Curry v. Secretary of the Army, 439 F. Supp. 261, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13198 (D.D.C. 1977).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GESELL, District Judge.

By collateral attack on his military conviction plaintiff brings this test case to have aspects of the entire military justice system declared unconstitutional and to receive consequent injunctive and monetary relief. The matter was fully briefed and argued on cross-motions for summary judgment. No [262]*262material facts are in dispute. Jurisdiction is properly invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 2201-2202 (1970 & Supp. V 1975), and collateral review is authorized by Schlesinger v. Councilman, 420 U.S. 738, 746-48, 95 S.Ct. 1300, 43 L.Ed.2d 591 (1975).

On March 8, 1975, while serving in Germany as an enlisted man in the United States Army, plaintiff was convicted of two homicides by a general court martial. His conviction was approved by the military convening authority and affirmed by the Army Court of Military Review. The United States Court of Military Appeals declined review, and a further request for relief from the Board of Correction of Military Errors was also denied.

Plaintiff makes no claim of specific prejudice in the military proceedings against him. Rather, he seeks a declaration that those provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (“Code”), 10 U.S.C. §§ 801-940 (1970), that assign multiple roles to the convening authority in the initiation, prosecution, and review of courts martial so destroy any chance that any defendant has of receiving a fair, impartial trial as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment that they are facially unconstitutional. Plaintiff has failed adequately to sustain his burden. Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted, and plaintiff’s motion is denied.

The provisions of the Code under attack can be briefly summarized. Article 22, 10 U.S.C. § 822 (1970), establishes a convening authority for a general court martial. Often it is the commanding officer of some if not all the persons involved in the court martial. Under Article 34, id. § 834, the convening authority reviews the report of investigation, determines whether charges are warranted, and if so, refers them to the court martial for trial. Articles 25-27, id. §§ 825-827, designate the convening authority as the person who details members of the court martial, the military judge, and both prosecution and defense counsel. Ar-tides 60 and 64, id. §§ 860, 864, provide that the record of the court martial shall be forwarded to the convening authority for his approval or disapproval of a verdict of guilt on review of the law and facts. Article 62, id. § 862, permits him to reinstate a specification if it was dismissed by the trial judge in a case not resulting in a verdict of not guilty.

Plaintiff argues that these provisions in effect place the convening authority in the position of grand jury, selector of the trial judge, jury, counsel, and appellate court. The opportunities thus presented for improper command influence, whether exercised or not, are said to be so great that the system is inherently prejudicial to defendants.

Plaintiff’s claim raises an issue of constitutional proportions, despite his failure to demonstrate specific prejudice.1 In a civilian context such a scheme would clearly violate the Fifth Amendment, as several decisions of the Supreme Court suggest. Compare In re Murchison, 349 U.S. 133, 75 S.Ct. 623, 99 L.Ed. 942 (1955) and Ward v. Village of Monroeville, 409 U.S. 57, 93 S.Ct. 80, 34 L.Ed.2d 267 (1972) with Withrow v. Larkin, 421 U.S. 35, 95 S.Ct. 1456, 43 L.Ed.2d 712 (1975). Indeed such a system is so foreign to our concept of criminal due process in the civilian context that the question of its validity has never been squarely presented.

The question here, however, is whether under the Constitution it can be tolerated in a military as opposed to civilian context. The military, even in peacetime, has been given certain special prerogatives. Recent decisions of the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit have demonstrated just how narrowly the Bill of Rights casts its protection to those in the military. E. g., Middendorf v. Henry, 425 U.S. 25, 96 S.Ct. 1281, 47 L.Ed. 556 (1975); Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 94 S.Ct. 2547, 41 [263]*263L.Ed.2d 439 (1973); Committee for G. I. Rights v. Callaway, 171 U.S.App.D.C. 73, 518 F.2d 466 (1975). Although numerous authorities, both within and without the military, have noted the unfairness of the system under attack in this suit,2 Congress has periodically considered pleas for reform and has rejected them.3 Moreover, both the Court of Claims and the Army Court of Military Review have denied claims identical to the one at bar. McDonald v. United States, 531 F.2d 490, 209 Ct.Cl. 62 (1976); Gross v. United States, 531 F.2d 482, 209 Ct.Cl. 70 (1976); United States v. White, 50 C.M.R. 77 (A.C.M.R.1975).

It must be recognized that the Code itself contains explicit provisions designed to safeguard against improper command influence in court martial proceedings. For example, Article 37, 10 U.S.C. § 837 (1970), provides in part:

(a) No authority convening a general, special, or summary court-martial, nor any other commanding officer, may censure, reprimand, or admonish the court or any member, military judge, or counsel thereof, with respect to the findings or sentence adjudged by the court, or with respect to any other exercise of its or his functions in the conduct of the proceeding. No person subject to this chapter may attempt to coerce or, by any unauthorized means, influence the action of a court-martial or any other military tribunal or any member thereof, in reaching the findings or sentence in any case, or the action of any convening, approving, or reviewing authority with respect to his judicial acts. .

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Related

Robert E. Curry v. Secretary of the Army
595 F.2d 873 (D.C. Circuit, 1979)
United States v. Ezell
6 M.J. 307 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
439 F. Supp. 261, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curry-v-secretary-of-the-army-dcd-1977.