ACTS Of SUPREMACY: A Cautionary Indictment of America’s Military Justice System by Walter Francis Fitzpatrick III – Military Justice System, Military Memoirs, Military History

Acts of Supremacy: A Cautionary Indictment of America’s Military Justice System by Walter Francis Fitzpatrick III, edited by Dominic McFarland Martin, is a unique treatise about one man’s court-martial in the spring of 1990.

This work details how an admiral set in motion the events that would lead to his subordinate’s court-martial, and how that subordinate – the author – fought to be exonerated. The author, now a retired naval officer, explains to readers how the current system of military justice came to be, claiming it to be beyond the laws and constitution of the United States, and what can be done to start fixing it.

“A central idea advanced in this work is that America’s military discipline system is extra-constitutional (unconstitutional, or outside the constitution) and extralegal (outside the law), and that it is purely a function of command wherein military commanders practice absolutism, giving them a free hand to treat their underlings as ‘so many chickens,’” Fitzpatrick says.

He continues, “If a given military rule bears any resemblance to the scope and operation of the US Constitution, it is simply a matter of that commander’s passing whim.”

Fitzpatrick goes into the history of military justice in this country, even to how it was formed with the Founding Fathers:

“ ‘John Jay told George Washington this much: “Let Congress legislate. Let others execute. Let others judge.” The bedrock foundation of the Constitution was a separation of powers in times of peace and tranquility. Little known, though, and terribly unappreciated is that the founders further provided that in times of national emergency or dire threat, all power must migrate to and reside in an ‘energetic executive.’ In other words, the Constitution is situational, and its structure and power are tied directly to particular levels of threat that the country may face.”

“Therefore, there is nothing particularly ‘judicial’ about America’s military government under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ),” Fitzpatrick explains, holding that the code is nothing more than “flimsy artifice” and indeed, that it is used to “hide in total darkness the very serious real-world abuses visited upon US servicemen.”

“A country’s character is measured by the way it treats its veterans.” —Unknown

Fitzpatrick concludes, “It follows that those not bound by constraints of the Constitution and those who deny constitutional protections to others cannot be trusted to defend the Constitution. Individuals and groups who deny these protections are most certainly suspect and represent a greater danger to the country than America has ever faced.”

Fitzpatrick’s unique, deep-dive work is an eye-opening look at the military justice system and how it has been used and abused throughout the years.