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Simple English definitions for legal terms
former punishment
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A quick definition of former punishment:
Former punishment: In the military, if someone gets in trouble for a small thing, they might get punished without going to court. This is called nonjudicial punishment. But if they do something similar again and it's more serious, they can't be punished twice for the same thing. This is called former punishment.
A more thorough explanation:
Definition: Former punishment is a rule in military law that states that if a person has already received nonjudicial punishment for a minor offense, they cannot be tried again for the same offense in a court-martial.
Example: Let's say a soldier was caught using their phone during a briefing and was given a punishment of extra duty. Later, the same soldier is accused of the same offense and is brought to a court-martial. However, because they already received nonjudicial punishment for the same offense, the court-martial cannot try them again for the same offense.
This rule is in place to prevent double jeopardy, which is when a person is tried twice for the same offense. It also encourages commanders to use nonjudicial punishment for minor offenses instead of immediately resorting to a court-martial.