Center for Military Law and Policy

The Center for Military Law and Policy was established in November 2004 as a means of capitalizing on the unique experience and knowledge of the Texas Tech faculty in the field of military law. The center provides a platform for scholarly research related to military law, a forum for discussion of current issues related to military law, and a resource for information about legal careers in military and national security law.

Heavily publicized cases involving sexual assault and sexual harassment, abuse of recruits at training centers, and abuse of prisoners in Iraq have created more press coverage of the military justice system than at any previous time. Thus, “the point of creating a Center for Military Law and Policy is not to create a civilian school of instruction for military law, but to bring credibility and a scholarly discussion to the modern military law debates,” said former Glenn D. West Endowed Research Professor of Law Richard D. Rosen, the first director of the center. With several former military lawyers on staff, the Texas Tech University School of Law provides a unique academic environment to study and critique the military judicial system, “We want to look at these military law issues as honestly and independently as we can,” Rosen said.

Director

Professor Geoff Corn is the director of the Center and holds the George R. Killam Jr. Chair of Criminal Law. He is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with over 21 years of service. He specializes in the law of armed conflict, national security law, criminal law and procedure, and prosecutorial ethics. He has provided expert testimony in various courts, including the Military Commission in Guantanamo, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and in federal court.

During his time in the Army, Professor Corn held various positions, such as the Army's senior law of war expert advisor. He was a tactical intelligence officer in Panama, supervisory defense counsel for the Western United States, Chief of International Law for US Army Europe, Professor of International and National Security Law at the US Army Judge Advocate General's School, and Chief Prosecutor for the 101st Airborne Division.

Other Faculty With Military Law Experience

In addition, faculty members with military law experience include:

• Dean (emeritus) and Major General (retired) Walter B. Huffman, M.Ed., J.D., the former Judge Advocate General of the United States Army
• Paul Whitfield Horn Professor Brian Shannon, J.D., former captain in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps