Gov. Doyle: Signs bill modernizing Wisconsin code of military justice

[undeterred]

3/28/2008

Friday, March 28, 2008
Contact: Carla Vigue, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162

MADISON - Governor Jim Doyle today signed a bill modernizing the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice. Governor Doyle was joined at the bill signing by Brigadier General Donald Dunbar, and representatives of the Wisconsin National Guard and the Joint Legislative Council.

“The Wisconsin National Guard serves our state and this nation with honor, courage, and distinction,” Governor Doyle said. “This bill ensures that the Wisconsin National Guard will be governed by the most current justice code in the nation.”

Assembly Bill 400 reorganizes the Wisconsin chapter governing the Department of Military Affairs and rewrites the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice that applies to the conduct of state military defense forces performing state duties.

The changes are part of a national movement to update state military justice codes,to reflect the National Guard’s ability to deploy worldwide on a wide range of missions. Wisconsin is only the second state in the country to enact a state military justice code modeled after the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is used by the federal Armed Forces.

Governor Doyle thanked the Department of Military Affairs and the Joint Legislative Council for their work on the bill.

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=122221

[undeterred]

1. When I saw this press release on a Friday afternoon

I was a little creeped out. I know there is a bill in our state and in many others to De-Federalize the National Guard and this sounds like its going in the opposite direction. I posted in GD and apparently people think its just about standardizing the codes so that guardspeople from different states have a uniform justice code.

I don't want to see the Wisconsin National Guard deployed worldwide on a range of missions.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3074424

[Broca]

2. I mlust admit that

I did not know that the state militias were not under the Uniform Code of Militay Justice. As I recall the only thing "Uniform" about it was that everyone was guilty.

[undeterred]

3. The interesting point is that the Federal authority to call up the Guard may have expired:

States: Federal authority to call up National Guard for Iraq has expired
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2008-01-29 20:52. Nonviolent Resistance
Legislation introduced today in Vermont to recall the Guard

Legislation also planned for Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island; being explored for Maine, Maryland, and Wisconsin

(Washington, D.C.) — A bill introduced today declares that the 2002 federal authorization to call up the State National Guard has expired, and would set in motion steps to recall members of the Vermont Guard. Similar legislation will be introduced by legislators in Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, and is under active discussion in a half-dozen other states, notably Wisconsin, Maine, and Maryland.

Rep. Michael Fisher, lead sponsor of the Vermont bill, stated that, “it is clear that the mission that Congress authorized no longer exists. The President has no current or permanent legal authority to keep Guard members in Iraq. The Governor as Commander-in-Chief of the Vermont National Guard should take necessary steps to bring them home.”

The Vermont bill would limit future Vermont National Guard service to state duties unless properly called into federal service.

Ben Manski, executive director of the pro-democracy group, Liberty Tree, said that, “the debate over the Iraq War changed today in a simple, but profound way. This legislation is limited to recalling the Guard in the absence of congressional authorization. Yet as an attorney who has studied these questions, it strikes me that with this legislation, the states have begun to reassert their historic national defense responsibilities and to honor the Constitution's genius for distributing power over issues of war and peace.”

Said Karen Dolan, director of Cities for Peace, which has coordinated hundreds of local and state governmental anti-war resolutions, "This development comes in the context of millions of people speaking up at the local and state levels in opposition to the war. Over 300 communities and twelve states have voiced outrage over sending our troops to Iraq as a matter of morality and policy. This bill says it is unlawful to keep National Guard troops in Iraq.”

In addition to the Vermont legislation, announced at today’s press conference in Montpelier by Rep. Michael Fisher and Senate President Pro-Tempore Peter Shumlin, legislators in Minnesota (Rep. Frank Hornstein, 651-296-9281), New Hampshire (Rep. Charles Weed, 603-352-8309), Pennsylvania (Rep. Tony Payton, 215-744-7901), and Rhode Island (Rep. David Segal, 401-432-7049), will sponsor similar National Guard legislation.

Legislators in six other states, notably Maryland (Sen. Jamie Raskin, 301-858-3634), Maine (Rep. Ted Koffman, 207- 288-5015), and Wisconsin (Rep. Spencer Black, 608-266-7521), are working on the issue and considering following suit.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/30548

[undeterred]

4. THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN!

Spencer Black was interviewed on the Mic 92.1 this morning - he is the Madison Assemblyman who has the bill to de-Federalize our National Guard! So whether we have a Democratic President who is hopefully bringing the troops home or a Republican is keeping them there forever- there is a good chance that our state legislature can make it illegal to keep using our NG for Federal assignments. This is awesome! Other states are working on it too. Maybe we can bring all Wisconsin's National Guard home by the end of the year!

Edit: The vote won't take place till next session. But he sounded like the Republicans would be in favor of it too.