Congressional D-Day: Saving Private Ryan from Jurisdictional Death. Proposals to Congress to Improve Judicial Scrutiny of Military Personnel Decisions.
Abstract
Before World War II, civilian judges granted great deference to military administrative personnel determinations, citing the military's specialized expertise and Congress's Constitutional rule-making authority over military affairs. After the war, however, things began to change. Congress terminated its practice of acting on the claims of service members through private relief legislation. Instead, Congress vested authority in the Service Secretaries to establish boards to address service members' claims. Through these administrative review boards the Service Secretaries were empowered to change military records to correct errors and remove injustices. Over the years these decisions became subject to judicial review as Congress passed new laws waiving the Government's sovereign immunity and providing jurisdictional bases for lawsuits. Today, these laws and diverse judicial interpretations have created confusing and contradictory procedures for resolving military disputes. Service members and veterans seeking judicial relief cannot accurately predict what law applies to their case, where or when they must file their lawsuit, and whether they must exhaust their administrative remedies prior to filing suit. Once in court, the wasteful practice of "litigating where to litigate" has become commonplace. The metaphorical Private Ryans of our military are in a quagmire, caught in a devastating legal crossfire, and it is time for Congress to come to their rescue by enacting curative legislation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 30, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA366760
Entities
People
- Robert C. Mcfetridge
Organizations
- United States Army War College