Establishment Military Justice:: Ency Board Except To Try To Keep in Liaison With It
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EsLebeDeutschlandEstablishment Military Justice:: Ency Board Except To Try To Keep in Liaison With It
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EsLebeDeutschland830 ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY JUSTICE:
Q . You are a member of the so-called clemency board?A . Not of the recentl y
created clemency board, but I am head of the clemency section of the Militar y
Justice Division . I ought to add, sir, that I was for a short time one of th e
original three members of the clemency board, but I was relieved by Gen .
Crowder in order to go back to my old clemency section .
Q . Who are the members of the clemency board at the present time?A.
Lieut . Col. Ansell, Col . Easby-Smith, Maj . Conner, Maj . G . Rogers, Maj . Ash-
man, Lieut . Tittman, and I think one additional major whose name I do no t
know .
Q . State briefly the procedure in the case of the clemency board .-A . With
regard to the prisoners in the three disciplinary barracks a memorandum i s
filled out by the commandant of the barracks in question, giving the materia l
facts that would be releveut upon the question of clemency, together with th e
commandant's recommendation as to clemency . That memorandum is sent di -
rectly from the barracks to the Judge Advocate General's Office, is attached to
the record of trial, and together with any other papers in the case is referre d
to one of the 10 or 11 officers, who reviews the case, in the first instance fo r
the clemency board, makes a short summary of the facts attending the offens e
as shown by the record of trial, and also makes his own tentative recommenda-
tion as to clemency . The hoard then goes over this case, approves or amend s
the tentative recommendation of clemency, and the case then goes in to th e
Judge Advocate General for his approval .
In addition to this procedure there was appointed by Gen . Crowder, after I
had been relieved from the clemency board, a special board of review, of three .
officers, of which Maj . Sannur is the head, whose duty it is to review any case s
from the clemency board where the reviewing officer has indicated that th e
evidence is weak or not convincing or not sufficient to sustain the findings of th e
court. This special board reports on such cases whether in its opinion the evi-
dence is sufficient or is convincing. I do not think it has yet been definitel y
decided in what way, if any, the findings of this special board are incorporate d
in the clemency review that goes from the Judge Advocate General's Offic e
to the Secretary of War.
So far as my information goes, heretofore the findings of the special boar d
have merely been set on a slip of paper, which is placed among the papers o f
the case, and which, of course, is the basis for the recommendation of th e
clemency board, but it has not been incorporated in the clemency review tha t
goes to the Secretary of War. I understand that the question of incorporatin g
the findings of the special board as to the evidence into the clemency revie w
is now being taken up by Gen . Kreger.
. Q . Can you give me any definite idea as to what percentage of the case s
which go before the clemency board are such as to require their being sent o n
to this special board?A . I really, sir, have no information upon which I coul d
even hazard an approximation on that . The difference between the present
clemency section, which is a part of the Military Justice Division, and th e
clemency board is that the clemency section handles all applications, letters, an d
petitions for clemency made by the prisoners themselves or by anyone on thei r
behalf, while the clemency board handles cases, as it were, on their own motio n
which cone direct from the barracks or from the penitentiaries with the momo-
randa as to facts that I have heretofore referred to .
Q . Who determines whether or not those cases shall actually go to the
clemency board?A . That question is determined by the record room upstair s
because they see at once where a case has an application or letter or petitio n
asking for clemency such case shall go to the clemency section, whereas th e
memoranda from the barracks or a list of prisoners from the penitentiary will
go to the clemency board .
Q . The clemency board is not, then, under you as chief of the clemenc y
division?A . No, sir ; I have actually_ nothing whatever to do with the clem-
ency board except to try to keep in liaison with it .
Q . How long have you been on duty in the Department of Military Justice ?
A. Since the latter part of 1918 .
Q . As a result of your experience, in the Division of Military Justice, an d
as a result of your observation, what are your conclusions as to the workin g
of the system of military justice in the Army as now applied?A . I woul d
say that the rights of every accused are scrupulously protected in this office .
First, the records are carefully examined to see that (luring the trial his sub-
stantial rights have been protected, and secondly, after he has been legall y
convicted of the offenses in question both the prisoner himself and anyone
