A service member who is denied contact with their defense counsel during duty hours has been subjected to a serious violation of their rights, and the legal recourse is immediate and aggressive. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel, and a command cannot arbitrarily prevent a soldier from accessing their attorney. This is a form of unlawful command influence and an obstruction of the attorney-client relationship.
The first step is for the military defense attorney to take immediate action. The attorney will formally contact the commander who is denying access, as well as that commander’s own legal advisor (the SJA). The attorney will state in a formal memorandum that their client is being unlawfully denied their right to counsel and will demand that the command cease and desist immediately. This puts the command on formal notice that their actions are illegal.
If the commander persists, the attorney will escalate the issue. They will advise their client to file an Inspector General (IG) complaint for abuse of authority and unlawful command influence. The attorney will also file a formal motion with the military judge assigned to the case, asking for sanctions against the command and for a remedy for the violation. This could include a lengthy delay of the trial to allow the defense to make up for lost preparation time, or in egregious cases, even the dismissal of the charges as a remedy for the government’s violation of their client’s fundamental constitutional rights.