Introduction
Since its creation by Congress in 1916, the special court-martial (SPCM) has been a judicial forum favored by commanders for disposing of relatively minor offenses. (1) In fiscal year 2002, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard convened 5052 courts-martial, 3197 of them SPCMs. (2) In the military justice system, a system that does not distinguish felony offenses from misdemeanors, the SPCM has filled a role roughly analogous to a misdemeanor-level ...