Posted on Jun 10, 2021
Austin signals intent to recommend changes to military sexual assault prosecutions
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In testimony before senators who are working on legislation to remove sexual assault prosecutions from a commander’s authority, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin implied he intends to recommend to the president that the military’s legal system be altered in some related way.
It’s been roughly six weeks since an independent review commission recommended that Austin take steps in that direction, but since then, he has taken time to gather opinions from the service chiefs and secretaries, not setting a deadline for his final decision.
“I want to be sure that whatever changes to the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] I recommend to the president ― and ultimately to this committee ― are scoped to the problem we are trying to solve, have a clear way forward on implementation, and ultimately restore the confidence of the force in the system,” Austin said in prepared remarks to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
It’s been roughly six weeks since an independent review commission recommended that Austin take steps in that direction, but since then, he has taken time to gather opinions from the service chiefs and secretaries, not setting a deadline for his final decision.
“I want to be sure that whatever changes to the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] I recommend to the president ― and ultimately to this committee ― are scoped to the problem we are trying to solve, have a clear way forward on implementation, and ultimately restore the confidence of the force in the system,” Austin said in prepared remarks to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
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Austin signals intent to recommend changes to military sexual assault prosecutions
Posted from militarytimes.com
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 1
Posted 3 y ago
This huge fiasco is about leadership failure and a case of losing accountability. Senior generals need to tell the Division Commanders sexual assaults and harassment cases are important metrics that the DC has to report. This will put pressure on the Brigades,
Battalions, and Companies.
I would suggest standing up a new organization to handle these cases to:
- Monitor the victims.
- Monitor the culprits,
- Monitor the actions the units are conducting.
- Compile a divisional report for the DC with input from the units.
I think this will impress upon all the leaders of the post that prevention, mitigating, and prosecuting sexual assault and harassment cases are important.
Battalions, and Companies.
I would suggest standing up a new organization to handle these cases to:
- Monitor the victims.
- Monitor the culprits,
- Monitor the actions the units are conducting.
- Compile a divisional report for the DC with input from the units.
I think this will impress upon all the leaders of the post that prevention, mitigating, and prosecuting sexual assault and harassment cases are important.
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