Adultery in the Uniform Code of Military Justice - Essay Example

According to Barner (53), under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a person can only be prosecuted for committing adultery if the following three elements can be proven:

• That, the accused wrongfully had sexual intercourse with a particular individual;
• That, at the time of the sexual encounter, the accused was lawfully married to another person; and
• That, under the circumstances, the actions of the accused brought discredit to the armed forces or threatened the "good order and discipline" of the armed forces.

Although Adultery is punishable by law, as an offense, it is difficult to legally prosecute in the military for several reasons. Remember, for someone to be prosecuted for committing adultery, the above three elements must be proven and among the elements, only the second one is easy to prove. Element #2 is usually easy for the government to prove because normally there is sufficient evidence to prove whether one is legally married or not. However, elements #1 and #3 are usually very difficult to prove and thus they form the major reasons why adultery is difficult to legally prosecute in the military.  

Element #1 may be difficult to prove because proof of sexual intercourse usually needs confession of one of the persons involved, photographs, eyewitnesses, or other legal proof. Element #3 is also difficult to prove because it has to be shown by the government that the actions of the accused had a direct negative impact on the army. This would usually include cases of fraternization or relationship with other members of the military (US Military, 62).  In addition to these two elements, the factors listed for consideration in the executive order issued by President Bush in 2001 lawmakers the prosecution of adulterous individuals very difficult. The executive order requires the commanders to take into considerations before they proceed with a court-martial. The factors include the rank of the accused, the impact of the affair on the parties involved, and whether the act took place while the accused was on the clock (Barner, 65).

Punishment

The military penalty is very harsh to persons convicted of adultery. If convicted a serving member of the military may be imprisoned for up to a year in confinement plus a dishonorable discharge, which entails the forfeiture of all pay and allowances. However, the odds of a soldier facing this punishment are very slim especially if adultery is all they are charged with. Artcurial’s on adultery alone rarely exist, the charge is often added on top of other crimes such as disobeying an order or disrespecting a superior (US Military, 62).

Effects of Adultery on a Military Unit

            In a military unit, the members are always in constant contact with each other and they are expected to work as a team. Therefore, members of a unit need to respect one another to coexist fully in the unit and work as a team. Adulterous cases among members of a unit are likely to disorganize the unit and reduce its survival and performance in a combat situation. The performance of a unit depends on the good spirit of its members, thus if this good spirit does not exist among the members its performance is likely to go down (Barner, 65).

Conclusion

            The military is all about working together as a team and defending a country. Therefore, to ensure its operations are not jeopardized, the military has laws and rules that govern the behavior of its members. Marriage is treasured by many and regarded as the most fundamental unit in a society, thus issues porta about witan out tediously because tan lead to great problems. Adultery is one cause of family break ups and hence should be breakups discouraged and persecuted. Therefore, to protect its members and ensure teamwork, teamwork finds it necessary to have laws concerning adultery for without them they would be savages.