Marine Disciplined For Anti-Obama Facebook Page

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There are rules about this in the UCMJ. Military are more limited in their freedom of speech than civilians. In my job I was privy to non-judicial punishment documents that came through the office (had to take pay away from people a lot for these punishments). There are occasionally people who go too far and get in trouble by disparaging the President or Congress. You just have to be discreet i your criticism. Outright bad mouthing of the President is not allowed for Military personnel. I am sure this guy knew it when he made the page. Perhaps it was worth getting in trouble for in his mind.

From the Uniform Code of Military Justice:

"Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct." (I don't believe the person in question is a commissioned officer)

"Any person subject to this chapter who uses provoking or reproachful words or gestures towards any other person subject to this chapter shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. " (Is the President subject to the UCMJ?)

"Any person subject to this chapter, who, knowing it to be false or fraudulent...makes or uses any writing or other paper knowing it to contain false or fraudulent statements...shall, upon conviction, be punished as a court-martial may direct. "

"Any commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. "

"Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court."

It seems to me that there is a reasonable basis for restricting this. One can argue about whether it is necessary as Facebook pages aren't exactly important in the grand scheme of things, but the legal basis seems to be there, in my non-professional opinion of course.

I agree with you guys. It's like saying "I hate Bill Gates, he's the scum of the earth!! ! Oh, but I see Microsoft is hiring. Sign me on." If he wants to criticize Obama, he's perfectly free to do so -- just not as an instrument of the entity that enforces and carries out his will.

And while it feels unfair that someone might have to give up a career just because a president has switched, I would say this: a military career is not like a civilian one. You go in knowing that regime change is part and parcel of the whole deal. It doesn't mean you have to be a "stupid trooper" and carry out unethical orders. However, you might have to carry out orders that are against your political philosophy. Like the whole Blood for Oil deal with Bush. Not many troops wanted to go to war for Haliburton. Of course, we couched that one as "Freeing" Iraq (yeah, it's so "free" now) or as revenge for 9/11 (a totally unrelated event).

But now I'm straying toward politics so I'm going to catch myself and stop here

Service members are free to criticize politicians in the United States, provided that when they do so, they are careful to separate what they say from their service (no attending rallies in uniform, no supporting/opposing politicians while using your rank as part of your name, etc). Most COs will advise those under their command not to be quoted on the topic at all, as that's far safer.

However, the President of the United States, no matter who he may be, is more than just a politician - he is also Command in Chief of the United States Armed Forces. He outranks everybody, and criticizing him in public is no more acceptable than calling your CO names in front of the other troops. (The technical term for this is "conduct harmful to morale and good order of service members.")

I can't remember whether the catch-all for enlisted members is Article 90 or Article 91 of the UCMJ (I've been out of the service since '89), but that article addresses "conduct unbecoming to enlisted members of the US Armed Forces." Seems to me that this sergeant's conduct, creating a Facebook page that specifically mentions his service status and loudly criticizes his C-in-C, is clearly in violation of this article, which gives a clear legal basis for his court-martial...

A soldier is bound by military rules to hold his tongue until his enlistment is up or until he resigns from the service, if he is a career soldier. The deal is clear. The military service gives the soldier training, a home, weapons and a mission. In exchange he owes obedience to his commanding officers including the Commander in Chief, i.e. the President of the United States. Whoever he is.

ruveyn

There all better, now as long as he doesn't express seditious comments, he's ok.

they are at 8034 fans now, I believe that's called the Streisand effect. The country is getting weird and is about as close to revolution as it has been since Viet Nam; Strange more and more Obama is acting like Nixon. I really think Obama is going to be a one term president.

OBTW these views are my own and do not represent the views of any other person or organization nor should they be construed to be a call or incitement to action peaceful or otherwise (the way things are going you can't be too carefull).