Legal News

Bush Affirms Death Sentence for Member of U.S. Military

By Dan Slater

As decider-in-chief, President Bush, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, has the final authority to approve capital punishment in the military. He did so yesterday, upholding the death penalty for Ronald A. Gray. Here are reports from the NYT and the AP.

Ronald A. Gray, escorted by military police leaving a Fort Bragg, N.C. courtroom, April, 1988. (AP Photo/The Fayetteville Observer, Marcus Castro)

Bush’s decision, notes the AP, marks the first time in 51 years that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the U.S. military. The last military execution was ordered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957, although it was not carried out by hanging until 1961. President John F. Kennedy was the last president to face the question, in 1962, but commuted the sentence to life in prison.

Gray, 42, was convicted in connection with a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area between April 1986 and January 1987 while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. He has been on death row at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., since April 1988.

“While approving a sentence of death for a member of our armed services is a serious and difficult decision for a commander in chief, the president believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted,” the White House press secretary, Dana Perino, said in a statement. “Private Gray was convicted of committing brutal crimes, including two murders, an attempted murder and three rapes.”

But Bush’s decision doesn’t end things. Rather, it clears the way for a round of appeals in civilian courts, beginning with the Federal District Court, said Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, a nonprofit. Among the issues, Fidell said, was the fact that Congress has since required capital cases to be considered by a 12-member jury.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 29, 2008 (boomark / email).