"For those of us who play no role in Hasan’s trial, no punishment but death seems appropriate, yet the obvious justice of such an outcome is far from assured. For one thing, President Obama will have to attend and speak at these soldiers’ funerals. Silence will not be an option. How can he console without appearing to prejudge guilt and punishment? He must. Any such statement would allow defense attorneys to argue that Obama’s comments constitute unlawful command influence and demand that the charges should be dismissed, or that the death penalty must be excluded. At best, appeals alleging unlawful command influence would delay any execution indefinitely. Prepare yourself for President Obama to sound mealy-mouthed, but it is important to understand that the legal context will dictate this." - Micah Wittman from Bookmarklet

"Writing in the Military Law Review in 2006, three years after my brief stint as editor, Marine Colonel Dwight H. Sullivan wrote that of the 47 capital cases the military has tried in recent decades, just 15 have resulted in death sentences. The trial and sentencing in this case will take a year or two — much less time than it might take in the civilian system, but that is only the beginning. If Hasan is sentenced to death, the case will enter the military’s meticulous appellate system, which has reversed more death sentences than it has affirmed. There have been no military executions since 1961, and there are six men sitting in the military’s death row today. Of these, only one appears to be at all close to execution; in 2008, President Bush approved the execution of convicted serial killer Private Ronald Gray, but Gray still sits on death row for crimes he committed in the 1980’s." - Micah Wittman