What’s new from the Military Law Task Force?
It is time to abolish draft registration and restore full rights to people of conscience
By Bill Galvin and Maria Santelli, Center on Conscience & War[1] This article was first published first publishing on Feb....
Cushing v. Tetter:[1] Still a Good Tool in the Box
By Alison Carter This article was published in the Spring 2016 issue of On Watch. This article explores a goldmine of...
Hobby Lobby and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act: new arguments for military Conscientious Objectors?[1]
By Deborah Karpatkin and Peter Goldberger This article was published in the Spring 2016 issue of On Watch. Much has been...
Trends in Conscientious Objector Cases
By Maria Santelli, Center on Conscience and War Published in the Spring 2016 issue of On Watch. It’s called the Conscience...
Winter 2016 issue of On Watch now online
The new issue of On Watch is now available for members of MLTF, subscribers and friends. On Watch Winter 2016 Vol. XXVII No. 1...
When the Mother’s Military Status Punishes the Child: Supreme Court Watch on the Feres Doctrine and the Ortiz Case
by Deborah H. Karpatkin Published in the Winter 2016 issue of On Watch. According to a recent decision by the Tenth Circuit in...
The Military After Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT)
By Jeff Lake Published in the Winter 2016 issue of On Watch. As this article is being written, the military’s policy of...
Military Sexual Assault Policy Updates
By Kathleen Gilberd Published in the Winter 2016 issue of On Watch. MLTF Resources on Military Sexual Violence MLTF has an...
Women in Combat: A historical and political analysis of “change” in the U.S. Armed Forces
By Kathy Johnson and David Gespass Published in the Winter 2015 issue of On Watch Despite dramatic changes in social mores and...
MLTF signs statement of solidarity with Okinawan people to stop construction of US military base
Solidarity Statement: Respect the Will of the Okinawan People The people of Okinawa are calling on the international...
Conscientious Objection and Secularism
With the majority of CO applicants today adhering to no religious practice or tradition, how does the military adapt? How do...
December 2014 issue of On Watch now online
The latest issue of MLTF’s quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to members and subscribers about a month ago, is now...
Adjustment Disorder Discharge
How command rids military of unwanted servicemembers by Kathleen Gilberd Adjustment disorder discharge has become the “go to”...
DoD releases report on sexual assaults. What do the new numbers mean?
The Department of Defense has just released a new report on sexual assault in the military, and Pentagon officials are...
Torture Report Confirms Team Bush War Crimes
News Analysis By MLTF member Marjorie Cohn Reprinted with permission from Truthout.org Reading the 499-page torture report...
New Army command policy reg
The Army has just released a new version of AR 600-20, "Army Command Policy" (PDF). This reg gives commanding officers...
David Gespass to speak on police militarization and misconduct at University of Arkansas Fayetteville
The University of Arkansas Student Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild will present a talk by MLTF member David Gespass on...
New book by MLTF member Marjorie Cohn examines military drones and other targeted killing
The latest book by longtime MLTF member Marjorie Cohn -- who is also past president of the National Lawyers Guild -- is due...
US Government Sanitizes Vietnam War History
News Analysis By MLTF member Marjorie Cohn Reprinted with permission from Truthout.org For many years after the Vietnam...
September 2014 issue of On Watch now online
The latest issue of MLTF’s quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to members and subscribers about a month ago, is now...
Career Ender: Sexual assault or sexual harassment complaints still prevent advancement
By Jim Klimaski Punishing the transgressor addresses half the problem. Where is meaningful assistance for the...
President Obama declares perpetual war
http://youtu.be/KvRd17vXaXM News Analysis | Marjorie Cohn President Barack Obama escalated the drone war he has conducted for...
Locals have no love for occupying armies, whether in Baghdad or Ferguson
NEWS ANALYSIS After the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, by a white cop, in the middle of a street in broad...
Challenging Military Sexual Violence
A Guide to Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Policies in the US Armed Forces for Servicemembers, MSV Survivors and Their...
Phone number changes for MLTF office
MLTF is discontinuing one of its phone numbers effective September 20. If you are using our old number, 619-233-1701, please...
Op-Ed: Military Sexual Violence rooted in military culture
Curbing Convening Authority Power to Alter Court-Martial Convictions Is No Solution, Is Insufficient and Misses the Point By...
Non-Judicial Punishment: Middle Ground Between Admin Proceedings And Courts-Martial
This material appeared in the June 2014 issue of On Watch (Volume XXV No.2). The PDF version of the issue is available in the...
June 2014 issue of On Watch now online
A new issue of On Watch, MLTF’s quarterly journal and newsletter, is now available to the public.
National Lawyers Guild Submits Comments for Improving Military Justice System to Department of Defense Military Justice Review Group
NEW YORK -- The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) today submitted comments to the Defense Department’s Military Justice Review...
Discharge Upgrade CLE at NYU School of Law on July 22
On Tuesday, July 22, 2014, the Urban Justice Center’s Veteran Advocacy Project (VAP) will be holding a free Discharge Upgrade...
What’s new in Conscientious Objector law?
By Deborah H. Karpatkin The years 2005-2011 saw a number of federal court cases considering habeas corpus applications from...
Report exposes mistreatment of GIs by Fort Hood leadership
Testimonies in 'Fort Hood Report' recount unethical health care practices, disregard of medical advice, violations of policy...
Military Psychiatric Policies and Discharges – An Introduction for Attorneys and Counselors
[download id="3494"] (Use the button to download a PDF version of this memo for offline reading/printing.) By Kathleen Gilberd...
Representing Servicemembers in Involuntary Discharge Proceedings
View, Print & Download This memo is designed for attorneys and counselors assisting enlisted servicemembers in challenging...
Discharge Upgrades
This publication replaces “Discharge Upgrading and Discharge Review: Introductory Materials & Forms for Attorneys and...
Article 138 Complaints: Servicemembers’ Tool for Redress
By Kathleen Gilberd Rev. Date: 2013 [download id="3505"] (Use the button to download a PDF version of this memo for offline...
MLTF’s James Branum interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!
MLTF member (and past co-chair) James M. Branum, an attorney in Oklahoma City, was a guest on Democracy Now! to talk...
Out of Afghanistan
A personal op-ed. I am sitting in my office this Memorial Day pretending to do work, but thinking about the hollowness of the...
Updated Memo: Military Medical Policies
Read online Print (PDF) This is an January 2014 update that replaces the 2007 memo titled Medical Discharge and Retirement....
March 2014 issue of On Watch now online
The latest issue of MLTF’s quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to members and subscribers about a month ago, is now...
Military Law and the New NDAA
Changes include sexual assault reform, repeal of sodomy ban, numerous other important updates to UCMJ, court-martial...
Military Medical Policies
Download PDF of this content for offline reading This publication updates and replaces the Medical Discharge and...
December issue of On Watch now online
The latest issue of MLTF’s quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to members and subscribers a month ago, is now available...
MLTF provides GI Rights trainers for Coffee Strong
MLTF will be providing trainers for two GI Rights training workshops at Coffee Strong in December. Coffee Strong is a GI...
Memo Update: Representing Servicemembers in Involuntary Discharge Proceedings
This memo, updated as of Oct. 2013, gives an overview of administrative discharges and procedures for challenging them. It is written for Written for attorneys and counselors, but can also be helpful for servicemembers who are facing involuntary discharge.
MLTF submits clemency request to Manning convening authority
MLTF submitted a letter requesting clemency to the officer authorized to review (and reduce, if he wishes) Chelsea Manning's...
New MLTF memo on Article 138 complaints
Servicemembers can complain about wrongs done to them by their command under Article 138, UCMJ. Although this is a powerful tool, few people know about it. This memo gives an overview of the complaint procedure and discusses some of the differences among the service branches.
September 2013 issue of On Watch now online
The latest issue of MLTF’s quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to members and subscribers a month ago, is now available...
Vieques: 10 years after U.S. bombing ends, struggle for justice in Puerto Rico continues
By Helen Jaccard and David Swanson Originally published in the September 2013 issue of On Watch, the MLTF quarterly...
Interview with Jeff Paterson, founder of the Private Manning Support Network
This email exchange with Jeff Paterson was conducted by MLTF's Rena Guay on Sept. 4. Paterson is the Project Director of...
Team Manning: How a grassroots crew of war resisters took on the US Army
BY RENA GUAY Thanks to help from the Task Force, I was able to attend the first days of the Manning court-martial, and also...
Fact Sheet: Servicemember Rights under the Military Whistleblowers Protection Act
View, Print, & Download The Military Whistleblower Protection Act of 1988 provides limited protection of lawful...
Marines implement new standards for conscientious objectors
By Bill Galvin In a new version of Marine Corps Order (MCO) 1306.16, issued in June of this year, the Department of the Navy,...
National Lawyers Guild Opposes Military Action Against Syria
On September 5, the national office of the National Lawyers Guild distributed the following news release, written with input...
Manning’s 35 year sentence reveals decline of US justice and journalism
The 35-year sentence given to Bradley Manning for exposing war crimes provides stark contrast to Ellsberg whistleblowing 40 years ago.
Verdict in Manning Case Slow Death for Democracy
Op-Ed for MLTF [Update]: In a public statement issued on 8/22/13, Pvt. Manning disclosed that her name is now Chelsea Manning,...
Army to Deploy Conscientious Objector
Editor's note: The lawyer representing PVC Munoz, James M. Branum, is an MLTF member. Private still scheduled for upcoming...
June 2013 issue of On Watch now online
The latest issue of MLTF's quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to members and subscribers a month ago, is now available...
David Gespass’ presentation on Bradley Manning
MLTF co-founder David Gespass recently gave a talk at Tulane University. Here's the slide presentation on the Bradley Manning...
Bradley Manning’s Legal Duty to Expose War Crimes
News Analysis by Marjorie Cohn Originally published at Truthout The court-martial of Bradley Manning, the most significant...
MLTF works hand in hand with GIRN at 2013 GI Rights Network Conference
The 2013 GI Rights Network conference, held in Santa Cruz, CA, from March 7 through 10, once again was an opportunity to...
Minority enlistment: Barriers to separation and relief
By Emily Gallagher In this article I discuss the issues raised by the enlistment of a 17-year-old minor in the military. I...
MLTF gets grant from RESIST
We are thankful to the RESIST Foundation for a generous grant of $2,000 to aid GI resistance to military oppression and demand...
Military sexual assault — It’s the culture
An Op-Ed for MLTF The military is once again in crisis over sexual assaults. In recent weeks, it has become more apparent than...
Military (In)Justice: Real problems, phony answers (Op-Ed)
This article is an official statement of the Military Law Task Force and represents its views. The author is a founder of the...
Iraq War Resister Kimberly Rivera sentenced to 14 months in military prison after deportation by Harper government
Press release from the War Resisters Support Campaign of Canada
Marjorie Cohn, Amy Goodman, others discuss “Independent Journalism on War, Conflict and Human Rights”
This panel on "Independent Journalism on War, Conflict and Human Rights" took place at the 2013 National Conference on Media...
MLTF’s Kathleen Gilberd to receive ‘Service Provider of the Year’ award from SWAN at 2013 Truth and Justice Summit
The Service Women's Action Network has announced its Provider of the Year Award and one of the two recipients is our own...
Revised regs on sexual assault, involuntary psych evaluations
DoD has reissued DoD Instruction 6495.02, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program Procedures, dated March 28,...
March 2013 issue of On Watch now online
The latest issue of MLTF's quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to subscribers a month ago, is now available to the pubic....
CLE: US Army AWOL – Tips for Civilian Defense Attorneys
The Military Law Task of the National Lawyers Guild along with the Southwest and Texoma regions of the National Lawyers Guild...
CLE: US Army AWOL – Tips for civilian defense attorneys
The Military Law Task of the National Lawyers Guild along with the Southwest and Texoma regions of the National Lawyers Guild...
In memory of Michael Gaffney, MLTF co-founder
Michael Gaffney, one of the founders of the MLTF and a long-time member, passed away last month. Michael served on the Task...
The Uncommon Courage of Bradley Manning
By Marjorie Cohn Bradley Manning has pleaded guilty to 10 charges including possessing and willfully communicating to an...
Sequestration’s indiscriminate cuts are no solution to the bloated military budget
An Op-Ed for MLTF by David Gespass Editor's note: Some on the Left, most prominently former Democratic Party chair Howard...
2013 NDAA: New Policies on Military Sexual Assault
by Kathleen Gilberd On January 2, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2013 (“NDAA”),...
Women in Combat: History and Future
A history of military service by women and an assessment of what lies ahead for female servicemembers BY KATHY JOHNSON Women...
Navigating the VA
A basic guide to how the VA system works and how to get earned benefits, along with practice pointers for vets and their...
Support actions for Bradley Manning requested as court-martial nears
After more than two and a half years in jail — some of that in solitary confinement under barbaric conditions — Bradley...
December 2012 issue of ‘On Watch’ now online
The latest issue of MLTF's quarterly newsletter, On Watch, released to subscribers a month ago, is now available to the pubic....
Letter writing campaign for Iraq War Resister Kimberly Rivera
This message is from the Kimberly Rivera Support Committee. Dear friends, We are writing to you on behalf of Kimberly...
CLE: Military Discharge Upgrading & Discharge Review
MLTF will offer a CLE on Military Discharge Upgrading & Discharge Review at the NLG 2012 'Law for the People' Convention...
MLTF’s Kathy Gilberd to conduct GI Rights training at Under the Hood
Kathy Gilberd, long time MLTF member, former steering committee co-chair, and current Executive Director will conduct a...
A message from our outgoing MLTF Chair
Dear MLTF members, I am writing to let you all know about a recent change in our MLTF officers. After serving for a little...
CLE: Representing Servicemembers who can no longer serve
military law task force presents REPRESENTING SERVICEMEMBERS WHO CAN NO LONGER SERVE A CLE presentation In Fayettville,...
In memory: Karen Detamore
We are sad to announce that MLTF Secretary and Steering Committee Member, Karen Detamore passed away yesterday. In honor of...
The Bradley Manning Case: Executive Power vs. Citizens’ Rights
An Op-Ed for MLTF by NLG President David Gespass The epic Bradley Manning prosecution – now involving two years of pretrial...
UN Official: Manning Subject to “Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment”
Op-Ed for MLTF by Marjorie Cohn Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley Manning has been formally charged with 22 counts including...
Should we be worried?: Changes made in DOD Instruction “Handling Dissident and Protest Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces”
Discussion and commentary by James M. Branum, MLTF Chair On February 22, 2012, the Department of Defense made major changes to...
Op-Ed: Who is really on trial — Bradley Manning or America itself?
By James M. Branum Chair of the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild February 22, 2012 Growing up in...
Bradley Manning Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by Oklahoma Peace Organization
The following press release was sent out by the Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Peace Research, an organization that...
MLTF Chair participates in Russia Today TV program debate regarding US Army whistleblower Bradley Manning
The Russia Today network hosted a debate on US Army whistleblower Bradley Manning. They invited MLTF Chair James M. Branum, of...
New access to old discharge upgrade manual
The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center at Yale has put David Addlestone's Military Discharge Upgrading, and Introduction to...
Army Times article notes troops’ presence in Occupy movement, cites MLTF
An article was published in the November 18, 2011 issue of Army Times, Navy Times, et. al. (Gannett-owned publications that...
Bay Area workshop on servicemembers’ rights to protest, Nov. 15
SAN FRANCISCO – On November 15, a workshop will be held on servicemembers’ right to protest and related issues. Sponsored by Bay Area Military Law Panel of the National Lawyers Guild, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, the GI Rights Hotline – SF, Courage to Resist, and Swords to Plowshares. Panelists will include Steve Collier, Teresa Panepinto, Rai Sue Sussman, and Jane Kaplan will serve as moderator.
Legal support for servicemembers, reservists and veterans participating in Occupy Wall Street actions
Download this brochure to read, print, distribute (PDF). The National Lawyers Guild has endorsed the Occupy Wall Street...
NLG endorses Occupy Wall Street movement, calls for members to join
EMERGENCY RESOLUTION BY THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD ENDORSING THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT IN NEW YORK CITY AND OVER 1500...
“AWOL in the Army” version 3 now available
The MLTF has released version 3 of James M. Branun’s “AWOL in the Army” memo. Branum is currently co-chair of the MLTF Steering Committee. The memo includes a flow chart and addendum on AWOL/UA policies for other branches
The Military Law Task Force Celebrates September 20 and the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
This is tremendous victory for all who believe in Equality and Justice. We congratulate the many lesbian, gay and bisexual...