Lawyers Military Defense Committee

The Lawyers Military Defense Committee (LMDC) was a non-profit legal organization founded in 1970 by a group concerned that military members serving in Vietnam were unable to exercise their right to civilian counsel in courts-martial. LMDC existed for six years (1970–76) – two years in the combat zone of Vietnam, and for four years amidst disciplinary clashes inside US military forces in West Germany (with additional military cases in the Philippines and Italy). During this period high caliber civilian representation and counseling by a cohort of young attorneys were provided free of charge country-wide, in often challenging and controversial cases for hundreds of service members, including scores of trial and post-trial proceedings. Initial logistical obstacles in Vietnam were ultimately resolved satisfactorily, so that communications with clients (and prospective clients), other counsel, and the court could be accomplished pursuant to newly issued U.S. Army regulations, as were needs for access to military transport, billeting, and research facilities. In almost every instance representation by LMDC lawyers was welcomed by assigned military counsel. LMDC’s operations in a war zone were unique. No undertaking of its kind has appeared in subsequent US conflicts.

In early 1970, from previous experiences at Clark Air Base in the Philippines where she observed the need for independent legal counsel for U.S. overseas military personnel, donor Anne Peretz set in motion the creation of LMDC. A board of directors of noted academic and civil rights attorneys was formed, including Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, professor John H. Mansfield (also of Harvard), ACLU general counsel Norman Dorsen, ACLU legal director Melvin Wulf, Indiana University law professor Edward F. Sherman, and Boston civil liberties attorney William Homans. (Quaker peace activist, May Bye, subsequently joined the board with the opening of the LMDC office in West Germany.) Other supporters were former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Justice Department official Burke Marshall, and Dean Abraham Goldstein of the Yale Law School. The aim of the office focused on representing military clients whose cases raised issues of dissent (e.g., conscientious objection and protests against the war), racism, constitutional rights, and command influence.

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