Also known as: military court · military tribunal · military tribunals · courts-martial
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A specialized system of tribunals authorized to adjudicate offenses by members of the armed forces and certain enemy combatants during wartime. These courts operate outside the Article III judiciary but remain subject to constitutional limits on jurisdiction over civilians and requirements of due process for U.S. citizens designated enemy combatants.
Monica Morgan, a civilian shop owner, was arrested for allegedly aiding insurgents during a declared emergency. Military authorities convened a court-martial to try her even though federal district courts in the area remained fully operational. The court-martial convicted her without a jury. Morgan's conviction is invalid because military courts lack authority to try American civilians when civilian courts are open and functioning.
Mason McCarthy, a U.S. citizen software engineer, was seized at a technology hub and held in a military brig as an enemy combatant based on classified intelligence. The government provided no forum for McCarthy to contest the factual basis of his designation. A federal court orders a meaningful opportunity before a neutral decisionmaker, allowing tailored procedures such as hearsay but requiring some adversarial process.
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Mariam Mansour, a civilian contractor, faced charges before a military commission created by executive order for alleged support of hostile forces. The commission lacked statutory authorization to try her because she was never a service member. Mansour successfully petitions to halt the proceedings on the ground that the tribunal exceeds congressional limits on military court jurisdiction.
Melanie Morris, an active-duty soldier, was convicted by court-martial of an offense unrelated to her military duties. The military court imposed a sentence that included capital punishment. The sentence is reviewed under the same Eighth Amendment standards that apply to civilian capital cases because military courts remain bound by constitutional prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishment.
Maya Malik, a service member at a training facility, received corporal punishment administered through military disciplinary channels without prior notice or hearing. Malik challenges the punishment as violating due process. The military court upholds the action because the procedures satisfied the limited constitutional protections applicable to military discipline of service members.
Michael Miller and foreign nationals landed on U.S. shores to conduct sabotage. Military authorities convened a commission to try them as unlawful combatants. The commission proceeds because the defendants were not entitled to civilian jury trials and fell within the recognized category of persons triable by military commission under the law of war.
Military courts lack authority to try American civilians when civilian courts are open and functioning, even during a declared emergency. Jurisdiction over civilians is narrowly confined to situations where civilian courts are unavailable or to certain enemy combatants whose status is properly established.
Supporting sources
A U.S. citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant is entitled to a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for detention before a neutral decisionmaker. Procedures may be tailored to military exigencies, including use of hearsay and rebuttable presumptions, but the government cannot deny all opportunity to refute the allegations.
Supporting sources
Courts-martial have jurisdiction over all offenses committed by members of the armed services regardless of whether the offenses are service-connected, provided the accused was a service member at the time of the offense and at the time of the charge.
Supporting sources
…permissible upon such record. (b) In re Grimley , 137 U.S. 147, and In re Morrissey , 137 U.S. 157, deal with the action of military tribunals. Military tribunals form a system of courts separate from the civil courts and created by virtue of an independent grant of power in the Constitution. Art. I, § 8, cl. 14, 16. They have…