Military Law and the Case of Dr. Nidal Hasan

"[No] military execution order can be carried out without the president’s signature."

The New York Times (11-15-09) has published an interesting article about military law and the difficulties of defending the Fort Hood mass-murderer Dr. Nidal Hasan. On page 2, the article explains:

If the government does seek the death penalty, as is likely, a panel of 12 officers of equal or higher rank than the defendant must deliver a unanimous verdict, and must also be unanimous in imposing a death sentence. If even one member of the panel disagrees on a death sentence, a sentence of life in prison would result. (In addition, no military execution order can be carried out without the president’s signature.)