ABSTRACT
The governance of the military establishment, or military law, encompasses far more than military discipline. Prior to World War II, the federal judiciary seldom reviewed the internal decisions of the military establishment. There are several principles of law important to remember in analyzing the extent to which the post-World War II justices deferred to the military establishment. Three of these principles: Jurisdiction, Lex Non Scripta and military custom, Exhaustion Doctrine. A reason that a reevaluation of the judiciary's role in military governance is important is because no contemporary study analyzes the judiciary within the context of either military history or Cold War history. Cold War historian David Caute assessed the federal judiciary's role during the age of McCarthyism as shamefully, as the American Judiciary bowed and bent to the Realpolitik of the American Century. Other attorneys advocated for courts-martial and command reforms simply because they believed the military had fallen behind in due process of other constitutional values.
