Clients usually ask me if they should write their congressperson. My answer is invariably no – unless you are their son or daughter, or unless you give them thousands of dollars in campaign funds every year.
For those who insist I always tell them to be careful what to say because that could come back to haunt them. The Army has just released an opinion in Scheuerman. In that case they cite to United States v. Gogas, 58 M.J. 96 (C.A.A.F. 2003). This is why I tell clients not to write their congressperson or IG on a pending case.
However, United States v. Scheuerman , __ M.J. ____ (A. Ct. Crim. App. 2009), gives you another reason to warn clients about what they say and to whom. (Although typically it’s often too late by the time you are involved.)
Unfortunately for Scheuerman, he made the mistake of saying bad things about the Army to people who remembered, and yes, he said them on his MySpace site.
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