MILITARY OFFICERS HAVE NO JURISDICTION OVER LT. COL. T. LAKIN......

[TONY SALAZAR]

Military officers have no jurisdiction over Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin

• Posted by Wayne Merc on October 4, 2010 at 1:21pm

BUT THEY HAVE BEEN TRAMPLING THE U.S. CONSTITUTION FOR DECADES

by Sharon Rondeau

(Oct. 3, 2010) —The military has been abusing its authority for at least 21 years, as evidenced by the court-martial of Lt. Cdr. Walter Fitzpatrick and now the attempted court-martial of Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin.

In a memo exchanged between Staff Judge Advocate General Tim Zeller and Navy Admiral John Bitoff on 9 November 1989, a “grant of immunity” was approved for a civilian over whom they
knew they had no jurisdiction.

Lt. Brian Feeley, who had been the treasurer for the MWR fund aboard
the USS MARS, was released from active duty before September 1988 and
was asked to testify as a witness for the prosecution in the Article 32
(probable cause hearing) of Fitzpatrick in November 1989. When Feeley
requested immunity from prosecution, the military chain of command up to
the Rear Admiral granted it, although they were aware that doing so was
outside of their jurisdiction.

Memo from Staff JAG Timothy Zeller to Admiral John Bitoff regarding the granting of immunity to a civilian over whom the military no longer had
any jurisdiction

Enlargement of text of "immunity" memo between JAG Timothy Zeller and Admiral John Bitoff

The request for immunity from Mr. Feeley was first made to Lieutenant Tim Zeller who drafted the letter granting Feeley immunity needing only Bitoff’s signature to put the grant in
operation. Zeller passed the formal letter to Captain Paul Romanski who
then turned the letter over to Captain A. E. Millis. Captain Millis
delivered Zeller’s letter to Admiral Bitoff. ADM Bitoff signed the grant
in a breathtaking act of outlawry.

Bitoff held no jurisdiction “grant” immunity to Mr. Feeley, a civilian graduate student.

Admiral Bitoff’s duty was to alert the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) special agents to place Staff JAG Timothy Zeller under arrest on numerous counts of criminal
misconduct.

Admiral John Bitoff and LT Zeller were Fitzpatrick’s accusers. Bitoff also acted as the convening authority in the case. In a letter to state of Washington U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks on
April 30, 1999, Bitoff wrote, “I brought the charges and I convened the
court-martial in the proper course of my duties.”

Page 5 of letter from Admiral John Bitoff to Congressman Norm Dicks in which he admits in the second paragraph that he acted as both prosecutor and
convening authority in the court-martial of Lt. Cdr. Walter Fitzpatrick

The text of the relevant sentence reads:

…I brought the charges and I convened the court-martial in the proper conduct of my duties…

General Carla Hawley-Bowland is acting as the convening authority in Lt. Col. Lakin’s case, but she and others claiming authority to do so have admitted that they do not know whether or not Obama is constitutionally eligible to serve. They claim that orders emanating from the Pentagon are valid, regardless of whether or not the civilian commander-in-chief is legitimate.

In the court-martial of Col. Lakin, for instance, we can demonstrate the lack of jurisdiction by crafting a hypothetical memo that might go to Hawley-Bowland from an Army JAG Maj.
named Sharon Rondeau (please indulge my role-play). I’ll illustrate by
offering the following hypothetical memo to underscore the fact that
military governors act independently of civilian oversight.

PERSONAL FOR MAJOR GENERAL BOWLAND

Dear General Bowland,

Regarding future considerations in the case of Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin, I feel obliged to communicate some encouragements in regard to proceeding
forward aggressively in Lt.Col. Lakin’s General Court-martial despite
the absence of lawful jurisdiction.

As a practical matter you do not hold jurisdiction in Lt.Col. Lakin’s General Court-martial.

Neither you, the Army Secretary nor the Defense Secretary (the government) knows whether Mr. Barack Hussein Obama is eligible to hold the office of president
of the United States as commander in chief.

However, lack of jurisdiction is not subject to question or challenge.

The Defense Department (government) holds absolute power and authority in matters such as these. Questions regarding jurisdiction are not relevant.

Said another way, military governors such as you, the Defense and Service Secretaries are not bound by any civilian jurisdictional constraints.

Military law and precedents are clear on this point: Congress vests in the Defense Secretary absolute power and authority that devolves to you as Lt. Col.
Lakin’s convening authority. The power of your position is separate and
apart from that vested in the Article II civilian executive. Your
military punishment power is completely independent. It is unassailable
and unchallengeable.

Furthermore, in the context of this Article I Court-martial challenging the constitutional qualifications to hold the office of the president as commander in
chief, there is an unusual need for unquestioning adherence to
established precedents.

It is impossible in the Lt. Col. Lakin Court-martial to undertake independent resolution of whether Mr. Obama is qualified under the Constitution to hold office
without expressing a lack of respect.

The potential for embarrassment to both Mr. Obama and the Defense Department is manifest.

Truthful answers to questions so far raised regarding the constitutionality of either Mr. Obama or the scope and operation of the military’s discipline system
could make everyone look really bad!

For all these reasons and to ensure fairness to Lt. Col. Lakin and the government, I recommend you proceed with all due haste in the Lakin Court-martial
even though you lack jurisdiction.

Since I don’t believe in keeping a file to cover this office when decisions are later questioned, there is no copy of this letter in my files or on my computer.

Very respectfully,
/s/
Sharon Rondeau
Major, U.S. Army JAG Corps Staff Judge Advocate

———————–

Last week a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps told this writer that The Post & Email should not publish articles about Lt. Col. Lakin’s case because it would encourage
other members of the military to abandon their posts and fellow
soldiers. He said, “What makes this one guy think he’s right? Now
because he’s refused to go to Afghanistan, somebody else has to go in
his place.” When The Post & Email asked the captain if he was aware
that Obama might not be constitutionally qualified to serve as
president and commander-in-chief of the military, his answer was, “Are
you saying that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison weren’t
qualified to be president?”

Our reply was, “No, because Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution states, “…at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution,” which means that those born in Great Britain but who had fought the Revolution and helped

to form the new nation were themselves qualified to serve.

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