It seems clear that, barring unforeseen factors, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings, will be tried in the military court system. He is a military officer accused of killing and wounding other members of the military on a military base. If he is tried for capital murder, one of the most likely charges, he could also face the death penalty under the court martial system. But the military death penalty is a rarely used and circuitous process.

The current military death penalty system was established in an Executive Order by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Since then, according to Dwight Sullivan, an Air Force appellate lawyer, there have been 15 members of the military sentenced to death. Of that group, 10 have seen their sentences set aside on appeal, three remain on direct appeal, and two are continuing to seek other judicial reviews.