Michael New Action Fund P.O. Box 100
Iredell, Texas 76649
vox 254/796-2173 fax 254/796-2682 www.mikenew.com
September 1998
Army Court of Criminal Appeals
sits on Michael New’s Case
(Falls Church, VA) – The Army Court of Criminal Appeals heard the appeal of Army Specialist Michael New on May 28, over three months ago. A phone call on September 13 to an officer of the court told us to be prepared to wait another three months.
Spc. New has been through the Federal District Court of Washington, DC, then the Federal Court of Appeals, and then the Supreme Court, and each of them have ruled that they’ll not hear his case until the appeal before military courts has been completed. (This is known as “exhaustion of the military remedy.”)
This military court has no intention of ruling in Spc. Michael New’s favor. They are merely stalling for time, perhaps because they have instructions from the Pentagon or the White House. Perhaps they are hoping this issue will go away.
They are making a mistake. They hope the memory of Michael’s name fades in the public consciousness, but their stalling does two things for us that is working against them. First, it gives us more time to take the issue to the American people. Americans understand that an American citizen has been denied justice and that this administration has deliberately tried to force its soldiers to serve a foreign power – the United Nations. Second, it helps keep the issue alive, and we raise more money to finance our way back to the Supreme Court.
As a Christian and an American soldier, Michael New understood when he enlisted that there would be no conflict between his faith in God and his service to a country which accepted his oath, “… so help me God.” When he got to Germany he learned that he would be required to serve a foreign power, an anti-Christian, Marxist United Nations. This wasn’t in the contract, it wasn’t in the oath, and it was a clear violation of his conscience. Every true Christian believes in the Bible. The Bible says, “No man can serve two masters.” The United Nations is not predicated upon the Biblical heritage of the United States. Therefore, NO Christian can, in good conscience, serve the United Nations.
The Army maintains the issue before the court is whether or not a soldier can disobey an order, regardless of the fact that the uniform was unauthorized.
Attorney Henry Hamilton argued that the issue before this particular court is whether or not New was given a fair court martial, where the evidence supporting his action was not allowed before the panel (jury) which determined guilt. According to Captain Paul Fiorino, appointed by the Army to defend Spc. New, “It doesn’t matter, in this case, whether he was right or wrong, the fact is he was denied a fair trial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He was railroaded and that’s wrong. A defendant should be allowed to present his evidence to those who determine his guilt.
New’s officers told him that the President now has the authority to place Americans under the United Nations according to Presidential Decision Directive #25 (PDD 25), but that document is classified and soldiers are not allowed to read it. Can you imagine? Is this the United States of America? Or are we getting a foretaste of the type of “justice” we’ll all enjoy under the New World Order?
The Army has successfully argued in three civilian courts that the case is exclusively a military matter and has no place before civilian courts. Federal courts have been very reluctant to interfere in the jurisdiction of the military courts.
But in the military courts the Army has argued that the issues raised by Spc. New are “non-justiciable,” with political ramifications and involving Constitutional questions they are unable to address. Military courts have been very reluctant to interfere in the jurisdiction of civilian courts.
According to retired Col. Henry Hamilton, “This dichotomy has resulted in stranding Specialist New without legal protection from an illegal order. Eventually the courts are going to have to protect our soldiers from being forced under foreign jurisdiction against their will.”
There are many Americans who claim that the President has, with PDD 25, “affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.” (The Civil Power, of course, is Congress, not the Commander in Chief.) The wording of that complaint is taken directly from the Declaration of Independence, and was one of the reasons the Colonies declared independence from Great Britain in 1776.
It’s time to ask your Congressman to inquire into why Michael New is being denied justice and why the Army Court of Criminal Appeals is taking so long to deliver its predetermined answer. Tell them we want to see them sign on to HCR 158, the resolution that will help resolve this matter for future soldiers. In an election year this is the time to ask.
We’re ready to move on to the civilian courts again, and they know it. So who’s afraid of Justice?
In the meantime, we hope to have a new book out in November, MICHAEL NEW – Mercenary. . . or American Soldier? We’ll let you know when it’s available.Justice delayed is justice denied.
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