Can a military judge preside over a court-martial of a higher-ranking officer?

Yes, in fact a general was tried by a colonel a few years ago at Bragg.

DISCLAIMERS: While I have served next to many MP’s, and witnessed a couple of court martials, I am definitely not a subject matter expert, so if anyone sees anything wrong in what follows, please correct me, as I would like to make sure the info I’m providing is reliable.

With that being said Richard Wilbanks, as a caveat to MSgt Steve Sweeney’s response, think of it this way.

Justice supersedes rank. The easier way to understand is that MP’s have arresting powers, regardless of rank.

There are more junior enlisted MP’s on patrol by virtue of the rank structure and organization (from what I have experienced) than NCO’s and Officers.

That responsibility requires the lesser ranking MP’s have authority for everything from initiating a traffic stop to apprehending a suspect who may have committed a crime or murder.

They can only do this if their actions are based on justice and not on rank. If it were based on rank and not justice, every MP unit would have to have a General or Admiral patrolling to be able to enforce justice.

So, justice trumps rank in matters of law enforcement and judicial punishment.

That being said, I would hate to be a PFC who has pulled over a 4 star General, LOL.


COL Mikel J. Burroughs,SPC Douglas Bolton,Brig Gen Jim Jaeger,CPT Jack Durish,Maj Marty Hogan,SPC Christopher Smith,Lt Col Charlie Brown,Cpl Scott McCarroll,SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth,SP5 Mark Kuzinski,PVT Mark Brown,SGT Elizabeth Scheck,PFC Jacob Wrubel,MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy,SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL,SSG William Jones,TSgt Joe C.,SSgt Robert Marx,

It's not the rank of the judge that is the problem, it's the rank of the panel members (jury in civilian terms). Each panel memberr is required to be senior in DOR or rank to the accused. Here's an article about the court martial of BG Sinclair at Ft Bragg that talks to the problem they had seating the panel.

https://www.fayobserver.com/764f1e92-4b86-5eca-820a-8259e3aeedc5.html