History Main / CourtMartialed

* Courts-martial in the United States have come into scrutiny in recent years owing to a particular quirk in American military law. Every court-martial has a designated ''convening authority'', usually in the form of a general or admiral in command of the large unit to which the accused is assigned. This convening authority has the authority to [[KarmaHoudini completely negate any conviction handed down by a trial s/he convened]] if s/he feels that doing so serves a greater military need. However, convening authorities' ability to toss aside convictions has become a [[BrokenBase controversy in recent times due to convictions for sexual harassment being set aside]].

* ''Film/AFewGoodMen'' is a LawProcedural involving two Marines being tried in the death of a third, and assigned a JAG representative (Creator/TomCruise's character) with a history of pleading out cases. His co-counsel convinces him to go to trial this time.

** ''Field of Dishonor'' opens with the court-martial of Captain Lord Pavel Young for disobeying direct orders and cowardice in the face of the enemy, among several other counts incurred during the Battle of Hancock in ''The Short Victorious War''. Due to random "luck of the draw" when a computer selects the court-martial board, half of the admirals on the panel judging the trial are in thrall to Young's father, Earl North Hollow, whether due to personal politics or blackmail. This results in Young being found guilty on four of six counts but with no agreement on the other two; he's dishonorably discharged but not sentenced to death.
** The same book ''also'' features Honor being investigated for misconduct in the same battle. While serving as Flag Captain to Rear Admiral Sarnow, Honor [[YouAreInCommandNow assumed command of the fleet]] when he was wounded, rather than informing the senior officer present that the Admiral had been incapacitated. Everyone assumed the orders were being sent on Admiral Sarnow's behalf during the battle. Ironically, one of the officers senior to Honor was Captain Young, who was ultimately being court-martialed for cowardice and disobeying Captain Harrington's orders to stay in formation (which is [[LoopholeAbuse weasel-worded]] as "orders from the flagship"). Ultimately they decide that Honor acted appropriately under the circumstances (they were actively under fire and taking the time to inform Sarnow's next-in-command could have cost them the battle), [[spoiler:but Honor is later relieved of command after killing Lord Young in a duel after he hires a contract killer to murder her boyfriend in revenge]].

** ''Flying Colours'' ends in one for the loss of the ''Sutherland'' at the end of the previous book, as the loss of a ship incurs an automatic court-martial no matter the circumstances. Since he lost his ship by taking out ''four'' French ones in a [[HeroicSacrifice heroic and doomed action]], caused France to use manpower and resources looking for him after escaping prison, and recaptured a British ship the French had captured in order to get back to England, the government exonerates him and turns him into a propaganda piece.

* The [[KangarooCourt courts-martial]] of French [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair Captain Alfred Dreyfus]], which convicted him of spying for Germany did not show the system of French military justice in a good light, as Dreyfus was not given a fair trial, evidence was falsified, and influential people in high command tried to shield the real culprit (who eventually fled to Britain). The whole affair deeply divided French society and politics, particularly because Dreyfus turned out to be scapegoated as he was Jewish, and vicious antisemitism underlaid the campaign against him. While Dreyfus was eventually exonerated, this event proved to have ''far'' longer-reaching consequences, as the French political class gained a deep distrust of the conservative professional military, resulting in entrenched political resistance against further professionalization of the military, which resulted in the French military lacking the necessary experience to streamline its command and control systems[[note]]most French tanks in 1940 didn't even carry radios, and most orders were still conveyed by courier; this led to an enormous amount of wasted time and opportunities despite the bravery of the individual French soldier[[/note]], leading to the Germans conquering the country in 1940.
* During UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars two French courts-martial gave the impression that they would unquestionably deliver the death sentences Napoleon wanted: that of the Duke of Enghien for alleged complicity in an attempt to assassinate Napoleon (1804) and that of the publisher Johann Philipp Palm for not revealing the name of the author of an anti-Napoleonic pamphlet (1806).

* During World War II, military tribunals in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany gained notoriety for their part in the summary executions of all kinds of people like partisans, deserters and plunderers. It got worse near the end when roaming bands of fanatical SS troops would dole out executions for "cowardice" against anyone, military or civilian, who expressed even a desire to surrender.
* Courts-martial in the United States have come into scrutiny in recent years owing to a particular quirk in American military law. Every court-martial has a designated ''convening authority'' usually in the form of a general or admiral in command of the large unit to which the accused is assigned. This convening authority has the authority to [[KarmaHoudini completely negate any conviction handed down by a trial s/he convened]] if s/he feels that doing so serves a greater military need. However, convening authorities' ability to toss aside convictions has become a [[BrokenBase controversy in recent times due to convictions for sexual harassment being set aside]].

* Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón was court-martialed by the Spanish Navy after losing [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWar the Battle of Manila Bay]] to then-Commmodore George Dewey (the decrepitude of the Spanish fleet made it a CurbStompBattle). Dewey himself, now an admiral, sent a letter to the defense testifying that Montojo y Pasarón had performed the best he possibly could. It was a KangarooCourt--the Spanish government wanted a scapegoat for the loss of the war and the remainder of the Spanish Empire--so he was imprisoned anyway, but the conviction was later overturned.

Historically, a court-martial may not only be held to determine someone's guilt, but also to verify their innocence and officially clear their name. This was a fairly common outcome for Captains who faced court-martial for the loss of their ships. It also wasn't unheard of for a disgraced officer to request a court-martial, in hopes of clearing their name in a court of law. Note that most navies have a standard court-martial which convenes whenever a ship is lost; this does not presume that the captain is suspected of wrongdoing, but merely that the circumstances surrounding the loss of the ship be made part of the official record (in fact, some captains saw their careers harmed or even effectively ended - because they ''didn't'' have a court-martial for an official record). These are called a "court of inquiry" usually as their role is not try a defendant on any charge but to investigate. If some evidence is found that implicates anyone with a crime, then another court-martial would conduct a trial for that.

* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', Hank Pym, who has taken on the mantle of Yellowjacket, is put on court martial by the other Avengers for his attack on Elfqueen after she had surrendered. His response is to [[EngineeredHeroics engineer a situation that he hopes will convince them to take him back]], by means of constructing a robot only vulnerable to his stings to send after the others. The plot fails when his wife Janet defeats the robot instead (since her stings are similar to Pym's) and reveals Pym's deception, leading to not only Pym getting kicked out of the Avengers, but Janet divorcing him (the fact that he [[NeverLiveItDown hit her]] when she tried to convince him to abandon his plan did nothing to help his case either).

** ''Field of Dishonor'' opens with the court-martial of Captain Lord Pavel Young for disobeying direct orders and cowardice in the face of the enemy, among several other counts incurred during the Battle of Hancock in ''The Short Victorious War''. Due to random "luck of the draw" when a computer selects the court martial board, half of the admirals on the panel judging the trial are in thrall to Young's father, Earl North Hollow, whether due to personal politics or blackmail. This results in Young being found guilty on four of six counts but with no agreement on the other two; he's dishonorably discharged but not sentenced to death.
** The same book ''also'' features Honor being investigated for misconduct in the same battle. While serving as Flag Captain to Rear Admiral Sarnow, Honor [[YouAreInCommandNow assumed command of the fleet]] when he was wounded, rather than informing the senior officer present that the Admiral had been incapacitated. Everyone assumed the orders were being sent on Admiral Sarnow's behalf during the battle. Ironically, one of the officers senior to Honor was Captain Young, who was ultimately being court martialed for cowardice and disobeying Captain Harrington's orders to stay in formation (which is [[LoopholeAbuse weasel-worded]] as "orders from the flagship"). Ultimately they decide that Honor acted appropriately under the circumstances (they were actively under fire and taking the time to inform Sarnow's next-in-command could have cost them the battle), [[spoiler:but Honor is later relieved of command after killing Lord Young in a duel after he hires a contract killer to murder her boyfriend in revenge]].
** A full chapter of ''Echoes of Honor'' (plus sections of several others) is devoted to the court-martials of State Sec guards on Hades and the efforts the former prisoners are making to keep those court-martials according to the book, instead of a vengeance spree.

** Ted Hendrick is sentenced to [[ATasteOfTheLAsh flogging]] before getting a dishonorable discharge for assaulting Sergeant Zim during training. Technically the offense merits the death penalty but since neither Zim nor Captain Frankel want that outcome Frankel (who didn't witness the altercation) [[IllPretendIDidntHearThat avoids asking]] about Zim's black eye and tries to settle the incident with a milder punishment. However, Hendrick is so intent on justifying himself that he unthinkingly blurts out what he did to Zim in front of witnesses, forcing Frankel to convene a court martial. Frankel is still able to save Hendrick's life by requesting a field court martial which is not empowered to issue a death penalty, though he and the guilt-ridden Zim are still unhappy as Zim should've been able to prevent a raw recruit from assaulting a superior officer in the first place.
** The protagonist, Juan Rico, is sentenced to five lashes for a training cock-up that would've gotten teammates killed in combat. Unlike Hendrick, though, he is deemed salvagable and given these lashes as an administrative punishment, designed to disappear from his record after he graduates boot camp. It helps that, when asked if he ''wanted'' to appeal the punishment in a court martial, Rico, [[OhCrap realizing how bad he had screwed up]] and also remembering Hendrick's fate, refuses (much to the officers' relief).

* The titular character of Creator/JohnHemry's ''Literature/PaulSinclair'' series finds himself uncomfortably often in court martials, one in each book, both as a witness and as an observer under his duties as the Legal Officer of the USS ''Michaelson''.

** Sinclair has a more direct involvement in the court martial of a newly arrived Lieutenant in ''Against All Enemies'', who's indirectly responsible for the deaths of many civilians after leaking classified information to a rival country, working with NCIS to provide evidence of espionage.

* As is expected by the title and premise, many episodes of ''Series/{{JAG}}'' involved court-martials for reasons varying from minor mistakes (that in order to up the drama led to (or nearly led to) major disasters or had their cases led by a HangingJudge or KangarooCourt) to dereliction of duty to possible espionage.

** Two potential court martials against Hawkeye were when he punched Frank ("House Arrest") and when he said General Steele was nuts ("The General Flipped At Dawn"). They were dismissed when a visiting female officer tried to make out with Frank then played the rape card (Margaret believed her and cleared Hawkeye) then when General Steele went off his nut at Hawkeye's preliminary hearing.

** When a visiting general dies from myocardial infarction while making out with Margaret, his attache wants to fudge the details of his death and expects Hawkeye and Trapper to follow suit. When they refuse, the attache threatens them with a court martial. They counter:

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Tali, TheEngineer on your crew, is recalled to the Quarian Migrant Fleet and put on trial for treason. There are no dedicated military lawyers or military judges - the admiralty board acts as judges, while Tali's ship's captain - the PlayerCharacter in this case - is her defense counsel. This actually resembles how Courts Martial used to be done in the US armed forces before military legal jurisdiction was established by the UCMJ. It also resembles an "Admirals' Mast" which is like a Captain's Mast in navies, except only for senior officers.

* In ''Videogame/BattleZone1998'', if you ignore an order for too long, General Collins will transfer command to another officer and boot you to the mission failed screen in a NonstandardGameOver. On Mars, he explicitly orders you to ''not'' attack a heavily defended Soviet base. If you disobey his orders and ''succeed'', he'll say he won't court martial you, but threatens to abandon you on some godforsaken dirt ball if you do it again. The Soviets are even more stringent: on the first Io mission of their campaign you are tasked with leading a squadron of bombers to destroy the NSDF base, but if you even ''briefly'' backtrack towards your own base you get a NonstandardGameOver in a prison cell.

* The backstory of [[PlayerCharacter Doomguy]] from ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' is that he was subjected to a court martial and [[ReassignedToAntarctica Reassigned to Mars]] for assaulting his commanding officer after being ordered to fire on civilians.

* ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'': Dick Dastardly threatens Klunk with a court martial when his weather machine built to stop Yankee Doodle Pigeon backfires, allowing the pigeon to get away (episode "Ceiling Zero Zero"). The potential charge was aiding and abetting the enemy.
* Towards the end of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', Ahsoka is subjected to a court martial after being [[FrameUp framed]] for a bombing attack on the Jedi Temple and [[HeKnowsTooMuch the murder of one of the perpetrators]]. She is cleared of all charges when the real bomber is captured and confesses, [[spoiler:but the experience proves to be the final straw in [[BrokenPedestal her growing disillusionment with the Jedi Order]], causing her to quit and leave to find her own way.]]

* The court martial and execution of Admiral John Byng in 1757 for non-adherence to the Fighting Instructions remains controversial to this day. As Voltaire commented in ''Literature/{{Candide}}'', he was executed ''[[MakeAnExampleOfThem pour encourager les autres]]''.
* The [[KangarooCourt court martials]] of French [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair Captain Alfred Dreyfus]], which convicted him of spying for Germany did not show the system of French military justice in a good light, as Dreyfus was not given a fair trial, evidence was falsified, and influential people in high command tried to shield the real culprit (who eventually fled to Britain). The whole affair deeply divided French society and politics, particularly because Dreyfus turned out to be scapegoated as he was Jewish, and vicious antisemitism underlaid the campaign against him. While Dreyfus was eventually exonerated, this event proved to have ''far'' longer-reaching consequences, as the French political class gained a deep distrust of the conservative professional military, resulting in entrenched political resistance against further professionalization of the military, which resulted in the French military lacking the necessary experience to streamline its command and control systems[[note]]most French tanks in 1940 didn't even carry radios, and most orders were still conveyed by courier; this led to an enormous amount of wasted time and opportunities despite the bravery of the individual French soldier[[/note]], leading to the Germans conquering the country in 1940.
* During UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars two French court-martials gave the impression that they would unquestionably deliver the death sentences Napoleon wanted: that of the Duke of Enghien for alleged complicity in an attempt to assassinate Napoleon (1804) and that of the publisher Johann Philipp Palm for not revealing the name of the author of an anti-Napoleonic pamphlet (1806).

* Courts martial in the United States have come into scrutiny in recent years owing to a particular quirk in American military law. Every court martial has a designated ''convening authority'' usually in the form of a general or admiral in command of the large unit to which the accused is assigned. This convening authority has the authority to [[KarmaHoudini completely negate any conviction handed down by a trial s/he convened]] if s/he feels that doing so serves a greater military need. However, convening authorities' ability to toss aside convictions has become a [[BrokenBase controversy in recent times due to convictions for sexual harassment being set aside]].

** The second episode of ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' deals with Number One being put in one of these for breaking their NoTranshumanismAllowed laws (namely that she lied about not being genetically modified). Her lawyer is able to switch things around and instead grant her asylum from the Federation’s own laws.

* During World War II, German military tribunals gained notoriety for their part in the summary executions of all kinds of people like partisans, deserters and plunderers. It got worse near the end when roaming bands of fanatical SS troops would dole out executions for "cowardice" for anyone, military or civilian, who expressed even a desire to surrender.

* The court martial and execution of Admiral John Byng in 1757 for non-adherence to the Fighting Instructions remains controversial to this day. As Voltaire commented in ''Literature/{{Candide}}'', he was executed ''pour encourager les autres''.

Sometimes, a soldier doesn't respect the law and[=/=]or his orders; other times, someone under military jurisdiction, such as a civilian living in a zone under anarchy or working for the army, ends on the bad side of the law.

In both cases, they end up court-martialed.

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Roy Mustang sometimes uses this as a threat for his underlings to follow his order, often for petty reasons. For instance, telling Ed to accept Armstrong as his bodyguard, or Havoc to meet and date Armstrong's sister. The one time it failed tipped him off that something is seriously wrong: [[spoiler:someone with higher authority than himself is shutting his subordinate, meaning the top brass is involved]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/BlackAdder https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blackaddercourtroom.jpg]]]]

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* From ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Roy Mustang sometimes uses this as a threat for his underlings to follow his order, often for petty reasons. For instance, telling Ed to accept Armstrong as his bodyguard, or Havoc to meet and date Armstrong's sister. The one time it failed tipped him off that something is seriously wrong: [[spoiler:someone with higher authority than himself is shutting his subordinate, meaning the top brass is involved.]]

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* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, it's repeatedly [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] that by all rights Samantha Shepard should face a court-martial, but due to [[GodzillaThreshold circumstances]] and her previous good deeds, she's not.
* in the Literature/{{Discworld}} of Creator/AAPessimal, [[AcePilot Olga Romanoff]] actually requests a Court of Inquiry[[note]]In British military practice, one step down from a court-martial[[/note]] to answer charges of reckless deployment of the valuable [[{{Pegasus}} Pegasi]]. Hearing the evidence, Vetinari rules that no blame attaches and the Pegasus Service has now evolved a protocol to prevent the same thing happening again. [[spoiler: the Service has discovered that six Pegasi, each carrying a Witch-pilot and a pillion passenger who is also a magic user, will cause a massive critical mass of magical potential when flying together, especially into a magical dimension, and Strange Things Happen.]]

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* In "Sergeant Rutledge" African-American top sergeant Woody Strode is court-martialed in the post Civil War west for raping and murdering his commander's (white) teenage daughter and shooting his commander to death before running away. Ironically [[spoiler: he did kill his commander. Rutledge found the girl naked and strangled and he was covering her with a blanket when the commander came in, misinterpreted the situation and fired his revolver. Rutledge had to fire back to save his life and knew no one would believe him.]] Despite claims to the contrary the court-martial was rife with bigotry.

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* In ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'', Clevinger ends up on one which had been crossed with a KangarooCourt on trumped up charges. When Clevinger tries to protest that punishing him would be a violation of justice, the [[HangingJudge judge]] goes into a full blown rant.
-->"That's not what justice is (...) [[DirtyCommies That's what Karl Marx is.]] I'll tell you what justice is. Justice is a knee in the gut from the floor on the chin at night sneaky with a knife brought up down on the magazine of a battleship sandbagged underhanded in the dark without a word of warning. Garroting. That's what justice is when we've all got to be tough enough and rough enough to fight Billy Petrolle. From the hip. Get it?"

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* in the Literature/{{Discworld}] of Creator/AAPessimal, [[AcePilot Olga Romanoff]] actually requests a Court of Inquiry[[note]]In British military practice, one step down from a court-martial[[/note]] to answer charges of reckless deployment of the valuable [[Pegasus Pegasi]]. Hearing the evidence, Vetinari rules that no blame attaches and the Pegasus Service has now evolved a protocol to prevent the same thing happening again. [[spoiler: the Service has discovered that six Pegasi, each carrying a Witch-pilot and a pillion passenger who is also a magic user, will cause a massive critical mass of magical potential when flying together, especially into a magical dimension, and Strange Things Happen.]]

** When a visiting general dies while making out with Margaret, his attache wants to fudge the details of his death and expects Hawkeye and Trapper to follow suit. When they refuse, the attache threatens them with a court martial. They counter:

* The court martial and execution of Admiral John Byng in 1757 for non-adherence to the Fighting Instructions remains controversial to this day. As Voltaire commented in ''Candide'', he was executed ''pour encourager les autres''.

* During World War II, German military tribunals gained notoriety for their part in the summary executions of all kinds of people like partisans, deserters and plunderers. [[UpToEleven It got worse]] near the end when roaming bands of fanatical SS troops would dole out executions for "cowardice" for anyone, military or civilian, who expressed even a desire to surrender.

* Courts martial in the United States have come into scrutiny in recent years owing to a particular quirk in American military law. Every court martial has a designated ''convening authority'' usually in the form of general or admiral in command of the large unit to which the accused is assigned. This convening authority has the authority to [[KarmaHoudini completely negate any conviction handed down by a trial s/he convened]] if s/he feels that doing so serves a greater military need. However, convening authority's ability to toss aside convictions has become a [[BrokenBase controversy in recent times due to convictions for sexual harassment being set aside]].
* James Richard Dacres of the Royal Navy was court-martialed for the 1812 loss of his ship, HMS ''Guerriere'', to the USS ''Constitution''. His defense was that the ship was originally French-built, and so not as sturdy as British ships, and was in need of a refit. This was a likely reason for the damage that they took early in the engagement. Satisfied that his crew had done their utsmost, the court acquitted Dacres.

Historically, a court-martial may not only be held to determine someone's guilt, but also to verify their innocence and officially clear their name. This was a fairly common outcome for Captains who faced court-martial for the loss of their ships. It also wasn't unheard of for a disgraced officer to request a court-martial, in hopes of clearing their name in a court of law. Note that most navies have a standard court-martial which convenes whenever a ship is lost; this does not presume that the captain is suspected of wrongdoing, but merely that the circumstances surrounding the loss of the ship be made part of the official record (in fact, some captains saw their careers harmed or even effectively ended - because they ''didn't'' have a court-martial for an official record).

* In ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' episode "The Washington Affair" ([=S3E7=]), Sully is arrested for desertion, tried by a court-martial and sentenced to be ShotAtDawn before being subjected to InsigniaRipOffRitual. He ''did'' desert because, becoming a sniper, he was ordered to kill a Confederate official before learning afterwards the man he killed was only a gun trader rival of Sully's superiors, who were involved in war profiteering involving the sale of weapons to ''both'' sides of the AmericanCivilWar. LAter, when the truth came at light and that Mike and Sully save UsefulNotes/UlyssesGrant, they are all pardoned.

* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest 6: The Spinal Frontier'', Roger Wilco is court-martialed for his actions at the end of the previous game. The only reason the [=StarCon=] Federation keeps him around (in his usual role as a janitor) is that he managed to rescue the crew of the SCS Goliath and returned his garbage scow the SCS Eureka intact. (Well, those, and the fact that he's a real good cleaner.)

*** As stated in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E9TheMeasureOfAMan The Measure of a Man]]", Jean-Luc Picard faced a general court-martial for the loss of his previous command, the USS ''Stargazer'', but was cleared.