On being property of the US Government
Over at Patterico’s, in a thread about the death penalty for child rapists, commenter “psyberian” claimed that service members are the government’s property. ABSOLUTELY NOT! They are members of the service, not property. They willingly agree to place themselves under the jurisdiction of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). It’s right there in the Oath of Enlistment. They surrender no constitutional rights. The UCMJ provides the same protections for a persons constitutional rights as any other court.
If you think this change of jurisdiction is odd, consider this. You willingly place yourself under a different jurisdiction every time you cross a state line.
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