Laws of War | The Murky Line
By John A. Haymond
Winter 2018 • MHQ Magazine
What happens when civilian law and military law collide? An 1887 case helped to settle the question
IN NATIONS WHERE MILITARY LAW IS NECESSARILY SUBORDINATE to civil law, the two legal systems coexist inside clearly defined jurisdictions. Occasionally, however, cases arise that push or even cross those boundaries. For the U.S. Army, such a case occurred at Fort Wayne in Detroit, Michigan, in 1887.
On July 11 of that year, during the garrison’s afternoon retreat ceremony, the prisoners in the guardhouse formed up outside the lockup while Sergeant of the Guard James Clark conducted the daily inspection of the facility. At the same time, the adjutant read the orders of the day to the assembled troops.
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