Widely publicized allegations of sexual assault in the military have led to questions on how the military pursues claims of sexual misconduct. Recent high-profile military justice issues include dismissal of charges by setting aside findings in an Aviano court-martial related to sexual offenses; alleged sexual assault of a civilian by an officer serving as the Chief of the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Branch at the Pentagon; and sexual assaults by instructors on recruits and tech school trainees at Lackland Air Force Base. These incidents have raised questions regarding how allegations of sexual assault are addressed by the chain of command, the authority and process to convene a court-martial, and the ability of the convening authority to provide clemency to a servicemember convicted of an offense. The U.S. Constitution imposes on the government a system of restraints to provide that no unfair law is enforced and that no law is enforced unfairly. What is fundamentally fair in a given situation depends in part on the objectives of a given system of law weighed alongside the possible infringement of individual liberties that the system might impose. In the criminal law system, some basic objectives are to discover the truth, punish the guilty proportionately with their crimes, acquit the innocent without unnecessary delay or expense, and prevent and deter further crime, thereby providing for the public order. Military justice shares these objectives in part, but also serves to enhance discipline throughout the Armed Forces, serving the overall objective of providing an effective national defense. The Constitution, in order to provide for the common defense, gives Congress the power to raise, support, and regulate the Armed Forces, but makes the President Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Article III, which governs the federal judiciary, does not give it any explicit role in the military, and the Supreme Court has taken the view that Congress's power "To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces" is entirely separate from Article III. Therefore, courts-martial are not considered to be Article III courts and are not subject to all of the rules that apply in federal courts. Under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to raise and support armies; provide and maintain a navy; and provide for organizing and disciplining them. Under this authority, Congress has enacted the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which is the code of military criminal laws applicable to all U.S. military members worldwide. The President implemented the UCMJ through the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), which was initially prescribed by Executive Order 12473 (April 13, 1984). The MCM contains the Rules for Courts-Martial (RCM), the Military Rules of Evidence (MRE), and the UCMJ. The MCM covers almost all aspects of military law. Because military courts are not considered Article III courts but instead are established pursuant to Article I of the Constitution, they have limited jurisdiction. The UCMJ gives courts-martial jurisdiction over servicemembers as well as several other categories of individuals, including retired members of a regular component of the Armed Forces entitled to pay; retired members of a reserve component who are hospitalized in a military hospital; persons in custody of the military serving a sentence imposed by a court-martial; members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Public Health Service and other organizations, when assigned to serve with the military; enemy prisoners of war in custody of the military; and persons with or accompanying the military in the field during "times of war," limited to declared wars. Jurisdiction of a court-martial does not depend on where the offense was committed; it depends solely on the status of the accused. Courts-martial try "military offenses," which are listed in the punitive articles of the UCMJ and are codified in 10 U.S.C. 877 et seq. Some "military offenses" have a civilian analog, but some are exclusive to the military. The President is authorized to prescribe the punishments which a court-martial may impose within the limits established by Congress. In addition, a servicemember may be tried at a court-martial for offenses not specifically covered through the use of the General Article—UCMJ Article 134, which states that all "crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense." The Armed Forces have used Art. 134 to assimilate state and federal offenses for which there is no analogous crime in the UCMJ in order to impose court-martial jurisdiction. The potential punishments for violations generally match those applicable to the corresponding civilian offense. Sex-related offenses are statutorily defined in a couple of different punitive articles. Rape and sexual assault are defined under Art. 120, while rape and sexual assault of a child are defined under Art. 120b. Other sexual misconduct, including forcible pandering, indecent exposure, and indecent viewing, visual recording, or broadcasting of the private area of another person without consent are defined under Art. 120c. Additionally, the offenses of stalking (Art. 120a) and forcible sodomy (Art. 125) are often included in the legislative proposals addressing sex-related offenses under the UCMJ discussed below. The maximum authorized punishments for the various sex-related offenses range from a dismissal to dishonorable discharge or bad-conduct discharge and confinement for one year for the offense of indecent exposure, or death or life in prison for the offense of rape. When a servicemember has reportedly committed an offense, the accused's immediate commander will conduct an inquiry. This inquiry may range from an examination of the charges and an investigative report or summary of expected evidence to a more extensive investigation, depending on the offense(s) alleged and the complexity of the case. The investigation may be conducted by members of the command or, in more complex cases, military and civilian law enforcement officials. Once evidence has been gathered and the inquiry is complete, the commander can choose to dispose of the charges by (1) taking no action, (2) initiating administrative action, (3) imposing non-judicial punishment, (4) preferring charges, or (5) forwarding to a higher authority for preferral of charges. The first formal step in a court-martial, preferral of charges, consists of drafting a charge sheet containing the charges and specifications against the accused. The charge sheet must be signed by the accuser under oath before a commissioned officer authorized to administer oaths. Once charges have been preferred they may be referred to one of three types of courts-martial: summary, special, or general. The seriousness of the offenses alleged generally determines the type of court-martial. The court-martial must be convened by an officer with sufficient legal authority, that is, the "convening authority," who will generally be the commander of the unit to which the accused is assigned. Unlike with the federal courts, the Supreme Court does not promulgate procedural rules for military courts-martial. As discussed above, Congress regulates the Armed Forces largely through Title 10 of the U.S. Code . The military courts-martial system is specifically addressed in the UCMJ, Chapter 47 of Title 10. Article 36 of the UCMJ authorizes the President to prescribe rules for "pretrial, trial, and post-trial procedures, including modes of proof, for cases arising under this chapter triable in courts-martial." Such rules are to "apply the principles of law and the rules of evidence generally recognized in the trial of criminal cases in the United States district courts" insofar as the President "considers practicable" but that "may not be contrary to or inconsistent" with the UCMJ. Pursuant to that delegation, the President created the RCM and the MRE. Congress, in creating the military justice system, established three types of courts-martial: (1) summary court-martial, (2) special court-martial, and (3) general court-martial. While the promulgated RCM and the MRE are applicable to all courts-martial, the jurisdiction and authorized punishments vary among the different courts-martial types. The function of the summary court-martial is to "promptly adjudicate minor offenses under a simple procedure" and "thoroughly and impartially inquire into both sides of the matter" ensuring that the "interests of both the Government and the accused are safeguarded and that justice is done." However, special and general courts-martial function to adjudicate more serious offenses, such as sexual assault, with more severe punishments, and thus the procedures are more complex. Generally, sex-related offenses are found in Art. 120. The special court-martial can try any servicemember for any noncapital offense or, under presidential regulation, capital offenses. Special courts-martial generally try offenses that are considered misdemeanors. A special court-martial can be composed of a military judge alone, not less than three members, or a military judge and not less than three members. Contrary to civilian criminal trials, the agreement of only two-thirds of the members of a court-martial is needed to find the accused guilty. Otherwise, the accused is acquitted. There are no "hung juries" in courts-martial. Regardless of the offenses tried, the maximum punishment allowed at a special court-martial is confinement for one year; hard labor without confinement for up to three months; forfeiture of two-thirds' pay per month for up to one year; reduction in pay grade; and a bad-conduct discharge.