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MICHAEL NEW LEGAL
DEFENSE FUND
5-30-2001
SPC MICHAEL NEW FILES MOTION WITH CAAF
(District of Columbia) - LTC Henry Hamilton
(US Army, ret.) filed a motion this week with the Court of Appeals for the
Armed Forces (CAAF) asking that they quit stalling and issue a ruling, one
way or the other in the case of Army Spc. Michael New. The case has
not moved for fifteen months, since oral arguments were heard before the court
on February 4, 2001. The case has been working on appeal from his original
court-martial since January, 1996 -- over six years.
Spc. New is the
first American ever charged with the crime of wanting to wear his own nation's
uniform. He is not, however, the first to experience how the Pentagon and
the military justice machine can drag its feet and stonewall those seeking a
speedy trial and Constitutional solutions.
According to Daniel
New, father of the beleaguered soldier, "The Army will not admit, of course,
that this is anything but a simple case of disobeying a direct and 'lawful
order.' But most Americans instinctively realize that when all the
evidence demonstrating that the order was unlawful is buried, and the jury is
not allowed to even look at the evidence, then the hand of powerful forces is
clearly at work. What stumps us is why there are still a few men in
uniform who can't see that this soldier was standing up for all of them, and for
the Constitution to which they all took the same oath."
Hamilton said in
the motion, "Comes now the undersigned civilian appellate defense counsel, ...
and moves this Court to render its decision in the above-captioned case or, in
the alternative, to issue an appropriate communication to the parties concerning
the status of the appeal and the reasons for the decision's delay...."
Hamilton also implied in the brief that the court is damaging its own
reputation with this extraordinary delay without a single word of explanation
for over a year. He wrote to the Court, "It is in the interests of justice
and the appearance of justice for this Honorable Court to render its decision at
this time."
The complete text of the motion is on our website:
http://www.mikenew.com/motiontorule.html
If
the court ever decides to rule on this very important case, there are two
obvious alternatives. If they rule in favor of Spc. New, they will
overturn the court-martial, and that will leave the Army with a long list of
alternatives, including a simple termination from the Army. If the Court
rules in favor of the Army, then Spc. New's attorneys will file a petition of
certiorari with the Supreme Court to hear and rule on the single question before
this court.
In the meantime, "justice delayed is justice
denied."
Contact:
Real
Americans don't wear U.N. blue!
Historical source: update6-2k1.html