CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Is the Marine Corps out of line for jailing and punishing a private for attempting suicide?
That’s the question awaiting the military’s highest appeals court.
Pvt. Lazzaric Caldwell’s failed suicide in 2010 at an Okinawa base led to a court-martial conviction, 180-day prison sentence and a bad-conduct discharge. The only such case prosecuted by the Marines in at least two years has provided a rare public view of the tension between the military’s desire to punish self-injury and its recent outreach efforts amid a suicide epidemic across the services.
http://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/marine-s-suicide-attempt-was-a-cry-for-help-was-it-also-a-crime-1.189153