SELF-DEFENSE UNDER SIEGE: CREEPING CRIMINALIZATION OF INDIVIDUAL SELF-DEFENSE IN THE U.S. MILITARY.

All U.S. jurisdictions recognize individual self-defense as an inherent right belonging to each person. As an inherent right, self-defense is rooted firmly in natural law, as opposed to positive law, which entails a revocable grant from a sovereign. This article contends that prior legal recognition of such an inherent right precludes a sovereign from unilaterally limiting an individual military member's exercise of or claim to self-defense. The story of U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Dakota L. Meyer serves as a vehicle for the argument that the U.S. military is improperly limiting the right of individual self-defense and the closely related doctrine of defense of others. In support of this contention, the scope of individual selfdefense guaranteed by the criminal justice systems of the U.S. military and a majority of states is compared with the scope of self-defense permitted for U.S. military personnel operating in a foreign battlespace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]