The Naval Justice School (NJS) is an educational institution of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

whose mission is to instruct

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

, and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

officers and enlisted personnel in the fundamental principles of military justice, civil and administrative law, and procedure. In addition to being licensed attorneys in any state or territory of the U.S., all attorneys in the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called jud ...

must undergo training either in this institution, or in the complementary institutions of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

, allowing them to act as trial or defense counsel at military courts-martial. The Naval Justice School was founded in 1946 at

Port Hueneme, California Port Hueneme ( ; Chumash: ''Wene Me'') is a small beach city in Ventura County, California, surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Santa Barbara Channel. Both the Port of Hueneme and Naval Base Ventura County lie within the city limits. P ...

and moved to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

in 1950. It has additional campuses in Norfolk, Virginia and

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

and a branch office in Charlottesville, Virginia. Beginning in 1990, the institution also began instructing U.S. civilians and foreign government officials in

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

law.D. Michael Hinkley, "Military Training for Human Rights and Democratization" in George J. Andreopoulos and Richard Pierre Claude, ''Human rights education for the twenty-first century'' (1997), p. 296-308.

Notable alumni

*Ivan Abrams, Deputy County Attorney for Mendocino County, California, and long-time international rule-of-law consultant for USAID * Russell A. Anderson, Chief Justice of Minnesota Supreme Court *

Duane Benton William Duane Benton (born September 8, 1950), known professionally as Duane Benton, is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Education Benton graduated from Northwestern University with a ...

, Judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. * A. Jay Cristol, Judge of the United States Court for the Southern District of Florida *

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Repres ...

, Governor of Florida *

John M. Dowd John Maguire Dowd (born November 2, 1941) is an American attorney, former attorney for the United States Department of Justice, and former United States Marine Corps Judge Advocate Division, Marine Corps Judge Advocate. Dowd was employed by seve ...

, Special Counsel to

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, Special Counsel to the

Special Counsel investigation In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to Criminal investigation, investigate, and potentially prosecution, prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing fo ...

* William Benner Enright, Judge of United States District Court for the Southern District of California. * James Knoll Gardner Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. * Robert Gammage, Associate Justice of Texas Supreme Court * Gary Hart, U.S. Senator from Colorado * Robert Dixon Herman, Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. * Adam Laxalt, Attorney General of Nevada * Steven Paul Logan, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona * James E. McPherson, United States Under Secretary of the Army * Matt Michels, Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota *

Kenneth Francis Ripple Kenneth Francis Ripple (born May 19, 1943) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Education and career Ripple was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received an Artium Baccalaure ...

, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. *

Mark Salter Mark Salter (born 1955) is an American speechwriter from Davenport, Iowa, known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches. Salter also served as McCain's chief ...

, Associate Justice of South Dakota Supreme Court * Matthew T. Schelp, Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. * Peter G. Strasser, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. * Charles Stimson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs * Edward G. Smith, Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. * Jay Town, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama

Fictional alumni

* Daniel Kaffee,

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

's lead role in ''

A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom C ...

'' *

Harmon Rabb Harmon 'Harm' Rabb, Jr. is a fictional character and lead role in the American television series '' JAG''. The character was created by Donald P. Bellisario, as a work for hire for Paramount Television, in the script for the ''JAG'' pilot ep ...

David James Elliott David James Elliott (born September 21, 1960) is a Canadian actor who was the star of the series '' JAG'', playing lead character Harmon Rabb Jr. from 1995 to 2005. Early life Elliott was born David William Smith on September 21, 1960, in Milton ...

's lead role in '' JAG'' *

Bud Roberts Bud J. Roberts Jr. is a fictional character in the '' JAG'' TV series (played by Patrick Labyorteaux), created by Donald P. Bellisario as a work-for-hire for Paramount Television. Bud Roberts made two appearances in the first season of ''JAG'' ...

, supporting character in ''JAG'' * Sturgis Turner,

Scott Lawrence Scott Lawrence (born September 27, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Cmdr. Sturgis Turner on the CBS series '' JAG''. Lawrence played the role from 2001 until 2005, when the series ended. He is also known for being the maj ...

's character in ''JAG'' * Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie, USMC, Catherine Bell's character in ''JAG''

References

External links

* United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps United States Navy schools and training United States Marine Corps schools Military justice Education in Newport County, Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Newport, Rhode Island Educational institutions established in 1946 Military units and formations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Rhode Island {{US-law-stub

Notable alumni

Fictional alumni

See also

References

External links