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MILITARY INJUSTICE LEGION "Advocating Rights for America's Military" January 14, 2018 Dear Sir or Madam, I respectfully ask for your attention regarding serious matters that adversely impacts hundreds of military families each year. Corruption plagues the military's injustice system, known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Our military heroes deserve to have the same constitutional safeguards that every American citizen enjoys. America's military have fought and sacrificed for our rights, so why subject them to a judicial system that deprives them a right to a fair trial? Why allow military judges to deny us justice? Why allow the JAG Corps and military investigators to conceal defense favorable evidence, admit faulty evidence into trial, and allow military prosecutors to practice law with no moral standards? These people who enable this broken judicial system (military judges, JAG officers, investigators) do not represent the military values that our brothers—at-arms serve by. They only represent themselves, and conduct military law in a preditory manner which vindictively prosecutes military servicemen; not for preserving true American justice, but securing a conviction by any means necessary. The American public does not understand the true nature of court martial proceedings, and the crooked rules they operate by; unfortunately, the "rules" that a court martial and JAG officers are supposed to abide by are often side stepped, and military judges allow them to bend rules if it helps the prosecution to secure a conviction against the accused. The core problem of the UCMJ lies at the appellate level where military appellate judges who are supposed to give an impartial look at these gross errors in judgement, and properly uphold the law in a manner that ensures the accused received a fair trial, and the rights of the accused were not violated by errornous rulings of the trial judge or prosecution misconduct. The appellate service courts are supposed to correct injustices, and not act as another rubber stamp for the government. Ruling legitimate issues of injustice as "a harmless error" and blatantly ignoring appellate issues raised by the defense, to only highlight the government's arguments to affirm convictions is not American justice. It is shameful that we subject our military to this broken judicial system that favors convictions over constitutional rights. Military judges and JAG officers should be held accountable 1300 N Warehouse Rd, Ft Leavenworth KS 66027 for not holding their own professional conduct to the same standards in which they maliciously prosecute military servicemen by. A court martial conviction should be based on the same standard of proof as civilians are protected by in civilian courts. Just because somebody wears a military uniform, does not make them any less American than another civilian; just because an American serves in the military does not mean they deserve to have diminished rights while facing a criminal trial. A military family is more likely to be destroyed from a court martial than a civilian family faces at a civilian trial; that is an un—American way to treat our military regardless of being accused of a crime. It's not right! The notion that "you are guilty until proven innocent" has darkened the military's judicial system to the point that: there is little to no burden of proof to convict, but evidence is required to acquit, which completely rests on the defense to find on their own. I am deeply saddened to acknowledge this statement as a concrete fact. Again, military appellate judges will declare all legitimate claims of IAC, or proven violations of Brady v Maryland as nothing more than a "harmless error". They are not practicing military law, nor are they reviewing military cases without a bias to favor the government; they are robbing military servicemen of their rights, and are keeping the Armed Forces under a broken judicial system with conviction rates which rivals that of Communist China. We deserve change and we deserve justice for our families; only congress and the President can implement the much needed change for military justice, which ultimately includes replacing the UCMJ with a system that safeguards our rights like every other American citizen enjoys. This is the morally right thing to do. It would make sense to have civilian crimes tried in a civilian court, and military specific crimes (espionage, war crimes, desertion, etc) to be reserved for military courts. This is the ideal way to protect the rights of military servicemen who are facing criminal proceedings, for non—war based crimes. To imply that "good order and discipline" can only be maintained with severe punishment, a diminished standard of proof, and minimal to no action by appellate judges is dangerously mistaken. I plead for your help on behalf of all military servicemen, and to please bring these matters of military injustice to the attention of congress and the President. Our military and our families deserve human rightsw Please feel welcome to email me at: MIL.legion.org@gmail.com LEON A BROWN IV Executive Director Hebrews 13:3
