Law Commons^™

Personal Jurisdiction Under Article 2, Ucmj Whither Russo, Catlow, And Brown?, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

The question of personal jurisdiction for military courts in cases of invalid enlistment creates several legal issues. Invalid enlistment cases exist in a legal gray area due to the uncertainty of whether the cases should be tried by civilian or military courts. The age and competence of the enlistee are material to determining jurisdiction. The conduct of the recruiter directly affects whether the enlistee was competent. Congress amended Article 2 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in order to address these problems. The amendment resolves many of the lingering jurisdictional issues created by Russo and Brown, but fails to …

Wagner, Valadez And Harrison: A Definitive Enlistment Trilogy, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

One area where enlistment law has received keen scrutiny is the subject of enlistment contracts vis a vis the question of personal jurisdiction. The Court of Military Appeals’s decision in United States v. Wagner served as the keystone for the Valadez and Harrison decisions. The Court in Wagner established the concept of constructive enlistment, which it subsequently relied on in Valadez and Harrison.

In Wagner, the court addressed whether a regulatory disqualification in and of itself voids the original enlistment contract for purposes of court-martial jurisdiction. The Court stated the regulation in question was not sufficient to void Wagner’s enlistment …