Robert Bergdahl v. United States

Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided September 1, 2026·No. 24-5150·Published

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

Argued December 12, 2025 Decided September 1, 2026

No. 24-5150

ROBERT B. BERGDAHL,

APPELLEE

v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, APPELLANT

Consolidated with 24-5154

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:21-cv-00418)

Bradley Hinshelwood, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, argued the cause for Appellant/Cross-Appellee. With him on the briefs were Brett A. Shumate, Assistant Attorney General, and Melissa N. Patterson, Attorney.

Eugene R. Fidell argued the cause for Appellee/Cross-

Appellant. With him on the briefs were Stephen I. Vladeck, Franklin D. Rosenblatt, and Stephen A. Saltzburg.

Before: SRINIVASAN, Chief Judge, WILKINS and KATSAS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge WILKINS.

WILKINS, Circuit Judge: In 2009, Robert B. Bergdahl was a soldier in the U.S. Army stationed in Afghanistan. During his deployment, Bergdahl left his post without permission to hike to headquarters to complain about conditions and leadership deficiencies within his unit. During the journey, he was captured by the Taliban-allied “Haqqani network” and held hostage for five years. In that time, Bergdahl was kept in brutal conditions and tortured. Bergdahl’s disappearance led to an extensive search and rescue mission, which resulted in several injuries of other military personnel. In 2014, President Obama approved Bergdahl’s exchange for five Taliban members detained at Guantanamo Bay. The exchange was the subject of widespread political discussions. Upon his return, a general court martial followed. Military authorities preferred court martial charges against Bergdahl for desertion with intent to shirk hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During his tribunal procedures, Bergdahl pled guilty to his charges, and at the conclusion of the general court-martial, the presiding military judge, Colonel Jeffery Nance, imposed a dishonorable discharge as opposed to the 14-year prison sentence requested by the prosecution.

Based on commentary from President Trump, as a candidate and as President, alleged partiality on behalf of the presiding military judge, and other issues, Bergdahl filed suit

in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking “collateral review of an unconstitutional conviction by a general court-martial” on due process grounds under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the Rules for Court-Martial, and Rule 2.11 of Rules of Judicial Conduct for Army Trial and Appellate Judges. J.A. 557. The District Court granted in part and denied in part the government’s motion to dismiss and granted in part and denied in part Bergdahl’s motion for summary judgment. Ultimately, the District Court vacated all orders and rulings by the military court as of October 16, 2017, and rendered them “void.” J.A. 559. Both parties filed timely appeals.

This case presents nuanced questions regarding jurisdiction and the evolving relationship between Article III courts and military courts. Jurisdiction here turns on whether the remedy sought falls within a district court’s power to grant. Because Article III district courts lack jurisdiction on collateral review to vacate court-martial judgments, the District Court lacked jurisdiction over Bergdahl’s claims. Therefore, we remand the case to the District Court to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

I.

A.

“Military law . . . is a jurisprudence which exists separate and apart from the law which governs in our federal judicial establishment.” Burns v. Wilson, 346 U.S. 137, 140 (1953) (plurality opinion). Pursuant to its authority to regulate the armed forces, Congress has long provided for a separate system of military courts to adjudicate charges brought against servicemembers. Ortiz v. United States, 585 U.S. 427, 431

(2018) (citing Solorio v. United States, 483 U.S. 435, 436 (1987)).

Today, the military tribunal process begins with the court-martial proceeding itself, in which “an officer-led tribunal [is] convened to determine guilt or innocence and levy appropriate punishment, up to lifetime imprisonment or execution.” Id. at 432; see, e.g., 10 U.S.C. §§ 816–867 (court- martial and appellate procedures). A servicemember’s appeal generally proceeds to one of four service-specific Court of Criminal Appeals (“CCAs”) for the Army, Navy–Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard. Id. Those appellate courts sit in panels of at least three judges, who are either military officers or civilians, and review cases within the jurisdiction prescribed by statute. 10 U.S.C. § 866(a)–(b). An appeal culminates in the highest court in the court-martial system: The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (“CAAF”), which is a “court of record” made up of five civilian judges appointed to serve 15-year terms. Id. §§ 941–942. “The CAAF must review certain weighty cases (including those in which capital punishment was imposed), and may grant petitions for review in any others.” Ortiz, 585 U.S. at 432. And since 1983, the Supreme Court has been the only Article III court with statutory authority to directly review specified CAAF decisions by writ of certiorari. 28 U.S.C. § 1259; 10 U.S.C. § 867a.

Prior to 1983, Congress had not “conferred on any Art.

III court jurisdiction directly to review court-martial determinations.” Schlesinger v. Councilman, 420 U.S. 738, 746 (1975). Congress codified this principle in 1950 in Article 76 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which provides that final orders from completed court-martial “proceedings, findings, and sentences” are “final and conclusive,” and that orders publishing them are “binding” upon the courts of the United States. Id. at 745; 10 U.S.C. § 876.

The Court in Councilman thus affirmed the longstanding “general rule” that “the acts of a court martial, within the scope of its jurisdiction and duty, cannot be controlled or reviewed in the civil courts, by writ of prohibition or otherwise.” Id. at 746 (quoting Smith v. Whitney, 116 U.S. 167, 177 (1886)). The Court also clarified that Article 76 does not restrict or expressly address Article III subject-matter jurisdiction. Id. at 749. Instead, its language marks the terminal point of proceedings within the military justice system after which military judgments become final. Id. at 749–50.

Notwithstanding that general rule, collateral review of court-martial judgments in Article III courts has generally arisen in a few narrow contexts 1: (1) habeas corpus petitions from military prisoners serving court-martial sentences (see 28 U.S.C. § 2241; Burns, 346 U.S. at 142); (2) Tucker Act claims for backpay or other economic benefits lost due to the court- martial conviction (see 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(a), 1491; United States v. Hohri, 482 U.S. 64, 72 (1987)); and (3) judicial review of military correction-boards decisions concerning corrections of administrative records (see 10 U.S.C. § 1552; Chappell v. Wallace, 462 U.S. 296, 303 (1983) (“Board decisions are subject to judicial review and can be set aside if they are arbitrary, capricious or not based on substantial evidence.”)). But these recognized avenues of collateral review provide relief from particular consequences under independent grants of jurisdiction; none confers authority to vacate the military judgment itself.

1 See generally, WALTER B. HUFFMAN, ET AL., MILITARY LAW: CRIMINAL JUSTICE & ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS § 12:1 (2026) (providing historical background of collateral review of court- martial proceedings and contemporary applications).

B.

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