Air Force Goes Easy On Mark Sanford For Adultery “Crime”

South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, a captain in the Air Foce Reserve, was the subject of scrutiny within the military because of the serious crime he committed. NoOoOooo - not the crime of having creatively borrowed tax payer money in order to listen to Coldplay and discuss dreams in Maria Belen Chapur’s room. 

In the Air Force, you see, adultery is considered a crime. 

They have, however, taken it easy on Sanford, having decided against taking any further disciplinary action against the disgraced Governor. Military lawyers point out that Sanford’s case is unique in that his affair did not involve another member of the military and his wife did not issue a complaint. Additionally, Sanford is a reservist and not currently an active member in the Air Force, which also played a role in how his superiors decided to deal with his infidelity.

One commenter familiar with military law explains why the military would have such a strong, legal stance on adultery among its members:

[A]dultery is an issue because the military gives all sorts of bennies to married folks in recognition of their marital status. The cheater negates that covenant. And the non-uniformed spouse makes big sacrifices in support of the service member. The prosecution I feel ought not be dependent on whether the wronged spouse comes forward as victim/complainant.

Makes sense to us, we suppose! 

But we’d like to know what you all think about this. Has Sanford been justly reprimanded for his actions? Has he been unfairly scapegoated? Do you think he and Maria Belen secretly got matching lower back tattoos while in Argentina? Because we totally suspect they may have.

Air Force lets Sanford off [World Mag]