Courts-martial in The United States - Congressional Oversight

Congressional Oversight

The Framers consciously placed the government and regulation of the military in the hands of the legislative branch. Congress has provided oversight of the military jury selection process since the Founding. In over two hundred and twenty-five years of congressional control over the court-martial system, the practice of command selection of the jury has survived every attack. Over the years, Congress has statutorily limited the discretion of the convening authority and created a justice system that seeks to balance the legitimate needs of the military with the demands of due process.

Following both World War I and World War II, there were outcries for Congress to reform military justice. When the troops returned from WWI, the public was outraged with stories of miscarriages of justice. This led to the first public movement to civilianize military law. In 1920, Congress made revisions to the Articles of War. This led to the imposition of a set of personal criteria for the commander to consider in selecting a panel. After WWII, there were more concerns about military justice, and, in particular, the problem of unlawful command influence of the courts-martial. Congress again made reforms to the Articles by attempting to solve the problem of unlawful command influence by prohibiting the convening authority and other commanders from censuring, reprimanding, admonishing, coercing, or unlawfully influencing any member in reaching the findings or sentence in any case.