The Court Martial Option

[Elderberry]

The Post & Email by Joseph DeMaio 8/23/2021

"'UNPRECEDENTED' IS NOT 'IMPOSSIBLE'"
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But is a court martial possible?

On the one hand, since the Constitution declares the president to be the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into actual Service of the United States…,” (Art.2, § 2, Cl. 1), a plausible argument can be made that the president is, in fact, as the “point of the spear” of the military armed forces, subject to court martial. There is apparently nothing in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (“UCMJ”) to specifically preclude or immunize a president from a court martial.  And if that surmise is incorrect, your humble servant invites correction.

Moreover, 10 U.S.C. § 802 strongly indicates that a president is, as a matter of fact and law, a “person subject to this chapter,” i.e., Chapter 47 of the UCMJ.

Specifically, 10 U.S.C. § 802(a)(1) provides that persons who are “subject to this chapter” (and thus, subject to court martial) include “members of a regular component of the armed forces, including… other persons lawfully called or ordered into, or to duty in or for training in, the armed forces, from the dates when they are required by the terms of the call or order to obey it.” Accordingly, it seems beyond rational debate that the “commander-in-chief” of the armed forces is also its sole uber-supreme “member.”

In addition, 10 U.S.C. § 810 provides that a person “subject to this chapter” and “who is charged with an offense under this chapter may be ordered into arrest or confinement as the circumstances require.”

Translation, when the Goof was inaugurated on January 20, 2021 by Chief Justice John Roberts – thanks, judge…  – he became the Goofball-in-Chief.  At that moment, he was “called to duty” to serve as the commander-in-chief of the “armed forces,” a status that will persist until he is no longer the “commander-in-chief.”  That language seems fairly clear: Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was, from January 20, 2021 until the present, “subject to” the chapter and sections of the chapter dealing with courts martial.

More: https://www.thepostemail.com/2021/08/23/the-court-martial-option/

[rangerrebew]

I'd dearly love to see Biden face a court martial but feel it's not good for the United States.  When the POTUS calls the shots in a military action, he needs to be free from thinking "what will this action do to my career."  If he could face a court martial and be only bounced from making military decisions as the consequence, that doesn't seem like a bad idea.  There would have to be very, very clearly enumerating actions which would be qualifying, though.

[PeteS in CA]

The President of the US is a civilian, not a member of the US military. By what law or section of the USC is (s)he subject to the UCMJ as well as the civilian laws of the US?