Legal Question in Military Law in New York

How to get military records?

My son's father is in the military (Coast Guard), we are in the middle of a custody trial. My lawyer sent them a subpeona, and the military's legal department told my lawyer that they will not honor any subpeona's from a state judge because they are federal records. Information such as my son's father's work schedule and reasons for his recent transfer are very important to my case. My lawyer said that he could subpeona my son's father to produce the records himself, but then he can pick and choose what he is willing to submit to the court. Does anybody know of ways to get these records straight from the military? Do I need to request a federal judges approval? The father signed a realse for the forensic psychologist, and they still won't give her the information requested.


Asked on 10/11/03, 6:32 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Donald G. Rehkopf, Jr. Brenna, Brenna & Boyce, PLLC

Reply: How to get military records?

This is a VERY complicated area of the law and your lawyer should be the one seeking this information. For example, even though it is an action pending in State Court, assuming that there has been proper service of process against your son's father, the State Court can direct that the father sign any appropriate "Releases" that the federal government requires, and if he refuses to sign the releases, the Court could then sanction him for such a refusal.

With respect to a subpoena, under the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, the federal government does not have to honor a State Court subpoena and generally will not. So, if you are going to use the subpoena route, you must go through a bureaucratic process of seeking a federal subpoena. This listserve is not the place to discuss all of the issues involved with that.

Good Luck!

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Answered on 10/14/03, 1:16 pm


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