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High Profile Case Could Revive Military Sexual Assault Bill
High Profile Case Could Revive Military Sexual Assault Bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The tumult over how to stop sexual assaults in the U.S. military is a long way from overas Congress grapples to find legislative solutions and new details emerge about a high-profile case involving an Army general and a female captain under his command.
In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate unanimously approved legislation this week to better protect victims within the ranks and ban the "good soldier defense" to make sure a defendant's fate is determined solely by evidence. But the House has signaled it won't take up the bill immediately despite the momentum generated by the Senate's 97-0 vote.
The trial at Fort Bragg, N.C., of Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair also may act as a referendum of sorts on whether more dramatic changes in the military justice system are necessary. The Senate last week defeated a bill by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that would have stripped commanders of their authority to prosecutesexual assault cases, placing that power with military lawyers instead.
But a recent ruling in the Sinclair case by the judge, Col. James Pohl, could aid Gillibrand and her supporters in their efforts to revive the bill. Sinclair, the former deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, is accused of twice forcing a female captain to perform oral sex on him in Afghanistan in 2011 during a three-year extramarital affair. He has admitted to the affair but denied assaulting the woman.
After reviewing a series of emails connected to Sinclair's case, Pohl said a decision by military officials at Fort Bragg to reject a plea bargain with the general may have been improperly influenced by political concerns. In the emails, military officials warned that allowing the general to plea bargain, and avoid trial, would "send the wrong signal," Pohl said.
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Full article here; http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/debate-over-military-sexual-assualt-far-from-over
