Amending the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000: Rushing to Close an Unforeseen Loophole

摘要

MEJA was a significant development in American criminal law, and closed a gap in the law that existed for over forty years. But, as recent events have proven, loopholes exist even in bills that seemed comprehensive when they were drafted. Congress acted promptly to close the loophole in MEJA once the events surrounding the Abu Ghraib prison abuse were brought to light. However, the imprecise language it used in doing so, coupled with a lack any real legislative history to explain this language, may confuse the courts as to the meaning of these new provisions. Given that the statute has been used only a few times since it was enacted, Congress' decision to add provisions to MEJA that might prove difficult to enforce could undermine the entire statute. In retrospect, it would have been better had Congress had spent a little more time publicly debating and then drafting the solution to the problem of non-DOD contractors committing crimes abroad, and included interpretive information in a congressional report to explain it, before enacting the solution into law.