Nazario: MEJA Prosecutions Could Haunt Military Personnel For Many Years

A disturbing article came out today regarding the Jose Nazario/Fallujah case. The law that Nazario is being charged under, called MEJA, allows the government to prosecute military members or those working with the military for acts allegedly committed while on active duty or in the commission of their service.

MEJA, which Congress approved and which took effect in 2000, extends military jurisdiction to members of the armed forces who “engage in conduct outside the United States that would constitute an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year if the conduct had been engaged in within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”

In effect, it holds military members to the standards of civilian law. If you kill someone–even in combat–prepare to not only face possible charges while on active duty (such as Sgt Lawrence Hutchins), but three years down the road, such as Jose Nazario.

Nazario’s defense attorneys contend that MEJA doesn’t address or apply to conduct during any combat action. Such prosecutions, they warn, would subject any service member to investigation and prosecution many years after alleged combat-zone crimes. Kevin B. McDermott said a comment made by a combat veteran self-medicating himself with alcohol at a bar “15 to 20 years from now … ends up in federal court.”

“There is no end to this war for any veterans,” said McDermott, a Tustin, Calif., attorney representing Nazario. “You are on the hook forever.” [emphasis added]

Worst. Law. Ever. Do combat veterans not deal with enough, that the government needs to hold the thought of possible prosecution for their combat actions over their heads for life? Let me get this straight. We give terrorists constitutional rights, and yet our own soldiers and Marines can get prosecuted for protecting us from the terrorists we’re giving rights to? Does this not sound like the most idiotic notion on earth?

What makes this law so incredibly dangerous is simply this: Put an anti-war, anti-military Democrat in the White House and see if we don’t get a whole lot of prosecutions for “war crimes.” Mark my words…it’ll happen. And now, it won’t matter if you’re in or long since discharged. They’re still coming to get you.

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Marine Charged in Civilian Court For Actions During Battle of Fallujah

People can’t be charged as civilians for actions during combat while active duty, can they?

They can now. Say hello to MEJA.

With only mixed success prosecuting U.S. soldiers for alleged atrocities in Iraq, the U.S. government is now turning to a novel legal approach to try military veterans in U.S. civilian courts.

The first target is Jose L. Nazario, a former Marine named as the defendant in the case United States of America v. Jose Luis Nazario.

In August 2007, federal prosecutors filed the case in U.S. District Court in California, charging Nazario with two counts of voluntary manslaughter.

Nazario’s alleged crime is that while serving with the Marines during the November 2004 battle in Fallujah, Iraq, he shot to death two insurgent prisoners of war.

Sgt. Nazario left the military with an honorable discharge after eight years of service. The New York City native then moved to Riverside, Calif., with his family and became a police officer.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) brought the charges to the U.S. attorney for Central California last summer, claiming Nazario is beyond the jurisdiction of military law.

He was charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), a law passed by Congress in 2000 to give government prosecutors a mechanism for charging civilians and former service members for alleged criminal acts they committed while serving overseas.

Before MEJA, members of the armed forces were prosecuted under military law or not at all, and in many instances civilians who committed crimes in foreign lands were completely beyond the reach of American civilian jurisdiction.

I’ll be staying on top of this story as it progresses.

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