Capital crimes were taken more seriously during World War II than they are today. Discipline needed to be maintained at all costs. Deterrence is the weapon of choice during the toughest times.
French L. MacLean’s The Fifth Field: The Story of the 96 American Soldiers Sentenced to Death and Executed in Europe and North Africa in World War II documents how times were different back then: “During World War II, in the North African/Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operation, 96 American soldiers were convicted by Army General Courts-Martial and executed for desertion, murder and rape.”
Today, Bowe Bergdahl may have pleaded guilty to desertion, but the legal system prefers to smooth over crimes that it doesn’t like. Instead of execution, Bergdahl was dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank, and fined. No prison time at all. After all, President Obama was more likely to eulogize Bergdahl, so maybe it depends on which side of the aisle is filtering the justice. During the campaign, Donald Trump correctly assessed Bergdahl as a “dirty, rotten traitor.”
We take for granted that the political left literally owns most media in the US. We can add the entrenched GOP establishment as well. But can the same be said for the American legal system? How else can we explain that in South Dakota, Charles Russell Rhines is still on death row after more than two decades? Do leniency and plea bargaining really work?
