Under current law, service members have a direct appeal to the Supreme Court when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) has conducted a mandatory review (death penalty and certified cases), granted discretionary review of a petition or otherwise granted relief. But if the CAAF has denied a petition for review or a petition for a writ of extraordinary relief, Supreme Court review may be obtained only through collateral review, for example, a writ of habeas corpus.
Under H.R. 3147, the “Equal Justice for our Military Act,” service members would be allowed to file high court petitions when the CAAF denies review of their case or their petitions for a writ of extraordinary relief.
