Opinion ID: 438918
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Effect on Military Discipline

Text: 28 As we have already observed, the preservation of military discipline is at the heart of the Feres doctrine. Courts have repeatedly recognized the importance of [t]he peculiar and special relationship of the soldier to his superiors. See United States v. Brown, supra, 348 U.S. at 112, 75 S.Ct. at 143. See also United States v. Carroll, 369 F.2d 618, 621 (8th Cir.1966). The Supreme Court has recently observed that the need for unhesitating and decisive action by military officers and equally disciplined responses by enlisted personnel, would be undermined if military officers are exposed to personal liability at the hands of those they are charged to command. Chappell v. Wallace, supra, 103 S.Ct. at 2367. The deference of courts to military judgment is based on the concern that [m]ilitary decisionmakers might not be willing to act as quickly and forcefully as is necessary, especially during battlefield conditions, if they know they will subsequently be called into a civilian court to answer for their actions. Jaffee v. United States, 663 F.2d 1226, 1232 (3d Cir.1981). 29 In this case, the claims against the various defendants can be placed in three categories: (1) the failure to prevent the hanging incident, (2) the actual participation by certain defendants in the hanging incident, and (3) the failure to perform a proper investigation of the incident. We believe that if the first and third of these claims were litigated, there would be a damaging effect on the military disciplinary structure. 30 The claim that various officers negligently failed to prevent the incident directly calls into question the disciplinary decisions of Briscoe's superior officers. Presumably what would be litigated is whether the officers should have issued some type of order, or otherwise taken disciplinary action, to prevent any type of racially motivated actions. Under the Feres doctrine such a lawsuit cannot be maintained--it strikes precisely at the type of command relationship between a service member and his or her superior officers that is at the heart of the military disciplinary structure. Similarly, the claim that various officers failed to perform a proper investigation strikes directly at military decisionmaking with respect to a disciplinary matter. The Feres doctrine will not permit a court to second-guess the military decisions as to how an investigation into a disciplinary matter should have been conducted. See Miller v. United States, supra, 643 F.2d at 494. 31 We must next consider the claim against the participants in the hanging incident under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981 and 1983. Unlike the other two claims, this claim does not involve the command relationship between a service member and his or her superiors, nor does it involve military decisionmaking with respect to disciplinary matters. There is no indication that a superior officer ordered anyone to participate in this offensive incident, so the concern for immediate compliance with military orders and procedures is not implicated. The activity that is at issue in this claim is of a distinctly non-military nature: the alleged participation of a group of men at a holiday weekend drinking party in the mock lynching of a young black man. The primary purpose of the Feres doctrine--the maintenance of the military disciplinary structure--could hardly be furthered by the application of military immunity for the participants in this incident. Indeed, the application of the Feres doctrine in a case such as this would insulate from liability the very breakdown of military discipline. Thus, the defendants who participated in the hanging incident are not entitled to a dismissal of this lawsuit under the Feres doctrine. 32 Finally, we observe that it is unclear to what extent the Nebraska guardsmen actually participated in the hanging incident. Briscoe's own statements suggest that it was only the Mississippi guardsmen, not the Nebraska guardsmen, who participated in the incident. The Mississippi guardsmen are not defendants in this suit. Additionally, the unanswered affidavits of the Nebraska guardsmen deny that they participated in the incident, other than as bystanders. In any event, this is a matter that seems ripe for consideration by the district court on remand. 33 In conclusion, then, we find that Briscoe's claim against the participants in the affair is not barred by the Feres doctrine. We find, however, that Briscoe's claims against the United States and his superior officers for failing to prevent the incident, and against his superior officers for failing to perform a proper investigation, are barred by the Feres doctrine. Thus, the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of those alleged to have participated in the incident--Smith, Lopez, Devere, Shultz, Titus, and Morgan--is reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of all the other defendants is affirmed.