Dear shmoofy-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Federal
crimes, such as possession or use of controlled substances on military
installations or by military personnel in violation of the Uniform
Code of Military Justice are subject only to Presidential pardons, so
expungement is not reasonably an option. While a presidential pardon
will restore various rights lost as a result of the pardoned offense
and should lessen to some extent the stigma arising from a conviction,
it will not erase or expunge the record of the conviction.
The first step is to consider your case and the applicability of a
potential pardon. You need to determine if it is in you r best
interest to seek a pardon or apply for clemency from your state
government:
?Under the Constitution, only federal criminal convictions, such as
those obtained in the United States District Courts, may be pardoned
by the President. In addition, the President's pardon power extends to
convictions obtained in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
and military court-martial proceedings. However, the President cannot
pardon a state criminal offense. Accordingly, if you are seeking
clemency for a state criminal conviction, you should not complete and
submit this petition. Instead, you should contact the Governor or
other appropriate authorities of the state where you reside or where
the conviction occurred (such as the state board of pardons and
paroles) to determine whether any relief is available to you under
state law. If you have a federal conviction, information about the
conviction may be obtained from the clerk of the federal court where
you were convicted.?
The next stop for you is the Office of the Pardon Attorney:
?If you are requesting pardon of a court-martial conviction only, you
should submit your completed petition directly to the Secretary of the
military department that had original jurisdiction in your case,
completing questions 2 through 6 and question 15 of the petition form
to show all pertinent information concerning your court-martial trial
and conviction. Pardon of a military offense will not change the
character of a military discharge. An upgrade or other change to a
military discharge may only be accomplished by action of the
appropriate military authorities. To apply for a review of a military
discharge, you should write to the relevant military branch, at the
address listed below:
Air Force Discharge Review Board
1535 Command Drive
Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland 20331-7002?
US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE PARDON ATTORNEY
http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/pardon_instructions.htm
Then read this notice pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 to help you
to understand what is involved in petitioning for pardon:
http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/privacy_statement_pardon.htm
Next, download the Petition for Pardon, fill it out and submit it to
the Office of the Pardon Attorney:
http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/forms/pardon_form.pdf
On the other hand, ?Correction of Military Records? (which you asked
about) is a different thing entirely. This should not be confused with
an expungement as it does not serve the same purpose.
?Once an accused has exhausted all other possible remedies, another
method for an accused to either modify or reduce a sentence may be by
petition to the Board for the Correction of Military Records. Each
Service has established a Board for the Correction of Service Records
in order to correct military records, where such action is necessary
or appropriate to correct an error or an injustice. These civilian
boards are established pursuant to the statutory provisions of 10
U.S.C. § 1552. These boards cannot set aside a court-martial
conviction, but may reduce or modify a sentence as a matter of
clemency, even if the sentence has already been executed.?
MILITARY JUSTICE FACT SHEETS
http://sja.hqmc.usmc.mil/JAM/MJFACTSHTS.htm
Here is a publication from the Air Force about the Correction of
Military Records procedure:
SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
AIR FORCE INSTRUCTION 36-2603
http://www.e%2dpublishing.af.mil/pubfiles/af/36/afi36%2D2603/afi36%2D2603.pdf
You may submit your application for correction to the Air Force Review
Boards Agency, but as I said, keep in mind that a ?correction? is not
an expungement.
AIR FORCE REVIEW BOARDS AGENCY
http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/safmrbr/
Forms: http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/safmrbr/bcformspubs.htm
A correction of records requires a lot of work and many attorneys
charge high fees for filing the necessary paperwork. However, I highly
recommend that you seek the advice of a military attorney if you can.
You can contact your state?s bar association for a possible referral
to one that is affordable to you or you can search the internet for
military lawyers and trying going it on your own. At the very least
you need (at a minimum, in my opinion) a consultation and some legal
advice that we cannot, by policy, provide in this forum, but will be
absolutely necessary (again, in my opinion) to put you on the right
legal path even if you do intend to do the footwork yourself.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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