Comments on: CAAF’s shrinking petition docket continued

By: Look, Man-

Look, Man- — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:06:21 +0000

As far as Army goes, there were just less cases tried last in 2008 than in the preceeding years. 2009 was almost exactly the same, so probably no increase in petitions from the Army this year.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:34:45 +0000

I’d guess its due to better decisions by the service courts: apparently appellants and counsel are agreeing more with the courts.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:01:14 +0000

I would guess a significant portion of the decline in CMs overall is attributable to a decrease in the number of AWOLs – this is a mature war now and soldiers now know the playing field when they sign the contract. Anyone have statistics on the number of AWOLs tried, number of AWOL convictions subject to Art 66 jurisdiction over the last 9 years?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:03:23 +0000

So what are the reasons for this decline: better soldiers, better decision-making by convening authorities, better trial judges, lack of new and novel appellate issues, more alternative dispositions, etc? But check the trial stats among the services! The number of GCMs and BCD SPCMs tried over the last several years has declined considerably, making the pool of potential appellate cases smaller.