Blawg Review: Previewing Blawg Review #32

JAG Central bridges that sometimes too-wide gap between the rule of law and military justice. It's been said that "military justice is to justice as military music is to music." Well, the law bloggers at JAG Central know the name of that tune.

At "the world's first weblog devoted to military justice," the anonymous Centrist and his cohorts discuss the news, views, and jurisprudence, at the intersection of legal and military affairs. Blog posts and articles on this military law blog are broken down into six basic areas corresponding to the core disciplines of the JAG Corps: military justice (criminal law), administrative law, contract law, fiscal law, client services, and international/operational law (including the law of land and naval warfare).

Centrist is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the UCLA School of Law. He spent his first five years in the Army as a helicopter pilot of an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. His duty assignments included student pilot, attack helicopter platoon leader, and aviation battalion intelligence officer. He spent the next three years of his Army career in law school through the Funded Legal Education Program.

While at UCLA, he met Phil Carter, founder of INTEL DUMP, who got him turned on to blogging. Centrist started his first blog, Law From the Center, as a general law student blog, but soon realized that his blogging would rise above the cacophony of the blogosphere if he concentrated on writing about what he knew best, adding a unique perspective to the blawgosphere on military justice and military law.
JAG Central was born, and has since become a leading law blog among the fraternity of milbloggers.

The ability of the civilian world to access the news and views of the military directly is a sea-change in media. At the conclusion of his wonderful 1998 book, Making the Corps, Washington Post writer Thomas Ricks worried aloud about the increasing distance between the civilian and military worlds, and the divergence in the values of both. Part of that problem was that the world of the warrior was increasingly remote from ordinary Americans who don't have much contact with the military.

Having graduated UCLA Law School, Centrist is now a Captain attending the Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, VA. In 8 days, he will find out if he passed the California Bar Exam. By all accounts, when that milestone is achieved, there'll be some serious partying in the blawgosphere as well as at the bar with his friends and colleagues.

LawyerDad is the newest voice added to JAG Central. A 3L at the University of Arkansas School of Law, he is very interested in the intersection between military affairs and constitutional law. Just recently, he clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. This court is a 5-member, presidentially-appointed civilian panel of judges who serve 15 year terms. It is the second level of appellate review for all military criminal cases. LawyerDad is currently exploring opportunities for employment after law school, including the possibility of military service in the various JAG Corps.

Blawg Review #32 presents a unique opportunity for law bloggers, not only to read a great military law blog, but to participate in a collaborative post with submissions and recommendations of the best blawg posts that touch on the areas of concern to civilian and military lawyers alike. At this time in history, in the midst of a global war on terrorism, when the usually disparate worlds of military and civilian justice seem to overlap in the application of the law, this promises to be a very interesting issue of Blawg Review.

"Americans owe a great debt of gratitude to those who have sacrificed for our liberty and for the security of our Nation. We express deep appreciation to our veterans -- the men and women who stepped forward when America needed them, triumphed over brutal enemies, liberated continents, and answered the prayers of millions around the globe." - The President