Military

NOTE FOR WL.ORG: WE HAVE A GOOD MILITARY CONTACT AT THE NCDSV WHO OFTEN WEIGHS IN WHEN WE GET MILITARY QUESTIONS - STACEY CAN EMAIL HER WITH SPECIFIC QUESTIONS. CONTACT STACEY IF NEEDED:

In most jurisdictions there are agreements (known as MOUs) between civilian courts and the military that keep an information flow going back and forth. In the MOUs, the civilian courts promise to inform the military that an action, civil or criminal, has been initiated. In some courts, they automatically make a copy of anything for their military liaison, such as a protective order application or divorce filing. hey also share criminal case information quickly if an MOU in place.

There are military servicemembers assigned from the JAG (judge advocate general)or SJA (staff judge advocate) to monitor the civilian courts. Some of the larger installations just have a file box where they drop in notifications and a servicemember, usually a JAG or SJA, picks up all the reports that in any way involve a military-related person, be they the servicemember or a family member. It is not supposed to matter whether the victim or the abuser is in the military – in either case, the installation and the commander should be informed by the JAG or SJA if there is any civilian matter pending that includes them as a victim or respondent. The goal is supposed to be coordination and making sure that services and support are appropriately offered to victims and that servicemembers identified by the civilian authorities committing any violations are known to their commanders. “Good order and discipline” includes anything, anywhere and the philosophy is that commanders are responsible for their people.

If a military servicemember wanted to seek help within the military system, there are confidentiality policies for Family Advocacy, Clergy, and Medical professionals so they should be able to talk to any of those three resources to determine how best to go about securing an order of protection with their support if they want to. We have more information on the Family Advocacy Program on our website, in addition to information on military protection orders and civil protection orders. HYPERLINK FOR THE STATE.

[ONLY INCLUDE THIS IF THE ABUSE IS LOW-LEVEL, LIKE HARASSMENT. DO NOT INCLUDE IF IT’S PHYSICAL OR SEXUAL ABUSE OR IF IT SEEMS DANGEROUS TO YOU:In addition, sometimes people may choose to go the non-court and non-police route but only if they think that would not put them in even more danger. For example, perhaps there is someone who has influence and can talk with the abuser about how their behavior can lead to consequences such as a criminal record. Another option when someone is being harassed but doesn’t want to involve the military or the courts could be to get a lawyer to write a “cease and desist” letter. A cease and desist letter is a letter that describes the unwanted behavior, instructs the person to stop, and warns that there could be additional legal consequences if it does not stop, such as a civil lawsuit for money damages. Sometimes a person may choose this option if the harassment doesn’t rise to the level of a crime or the harassment doesn’t qualify them for a protection order. Sometimes a cease and desist letter is enough to get the person to stop the unwanted behavior, but sometimes the person might ignore it, or even escalate the behavior. For legal referrals, you can go to our Finding a Lawyer page.]