forwarned is for-armed.
Article 88—Contempt toward officials
Text.
“Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
Elements.
(1) That the accused was a commissioned officer of the United States armed forces;
(2) That the accused used certain words against an official or legislature named in the article;
(3) That by an act of the accused these words came to the knowledge of a person other than the accused; and
(4) That the words used were contemptuous, either in themselves or by virtue of the circumstances under which they were used.
Note: If the words were against a Governor or legislature, add the following element
(5) That the accused was then present in the State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession of the Governor or legislature concerned.
Explanation.
The official or legislature against whom the words are used must be occupying one of the offices or be one of the legislatures named in Article 88 at the time of the offense. Neither “Congress” nor “legislature” includes its members individually. “Governor” does not include “lieutenant governor.” It is immaterial whether the words are used against the official in an official or private capacity. If not personally contemptuous, ad-verse criticism of one of the officials or legislatures named in the article in the course of a political discussion, even though emphatically expressed, may not be charged as a violation of the article.
Similarly, expressions of opinion made in a purely private conversation should not rdinarily be charged. Giving broad circulation to a written publication containing contemptuous words of the kind made punishable by this article, or the utterance of contemptuous words of this kind in the presence of military subordinates, aggravates the offense. The truth or falsity of the statements is immaterial.
Lesser included offense.
Article 80—attempts
Maximum punishment.
Dismissal, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
Note: While only commissioned officers can be charged under this article, DOD Directive 1344.10- POLITICAL ACTIVITIES BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ON ACTIVE DUTY, extend these same requirements to all individuals on active duty. Enlisted members and warrant officers who violate these provisions can be charged under Article 92, of the UCMJ, Failure to Obey an Order or Regulation.
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Tonto Salazar is provably not 'Congress'. If the authors of the article had intended to include Senators and 'Critters, presumably they were intelligent enough to have written 'Congress, or members thereof'.
As proof of this, all defendant's counsel would have to do is locate any other article in which specific reference to 'members of Congress' is made. The court would have no choice whatever but to find the defendant 'not guilty'.
Additionally, it would have to be a real horse's a$$ of a Judge Advocate to file under this article for an insult to a 'Critter. Not to say there aren't such horse's a$$es, but they are in no way the majority of J.A.s.