The GW Law Military Law Society recently hosted the United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals for an oral argument, followed by a question and answer session with students. Military criminal appellate courts have held annual oral argument hearings at GW Law, as part of their public outreach programs, since 2009.
The court, which reviews certain courts-martial convictions of Navy-Marine Corps personnel, heard arguments in the case of United States v. Dinger. The petitioner, retired Gunnery Sergeant Derek L. Dinger, was convicted by a court-martial of two specifications of committing indecent acts, one specification of attempting to produce child pornography, two specifications of wrongfully making an indecent visual recording, and one specification of receiving, viewing, and possessing child pornography. On appeal, he challenged the jurisdiction of the court-martial, arguing that as a retiree he was entitled to a trial in a civilian court.
After the arguments concluded, students in the audience had the chance to ask questions of the judges and other Navy-Marine Corps officers in attendance. Students asked about everything from the judges' career paths to how the counsel prepare for cases.
Reflecting on the experience, Kaylyn Sands, a 3L who has been selected to join the Army JAG Corps within the next year said, "I find it exciting knowing that in six to eight years, I could be arguing issues before the court as significant as those argued by appellate counsel, especially when the issues could potentially have such significant and far-reaching ramifications as those argued Wednesday."