On July 1, Senators Kirsten #Gillibrand, Senator Chuck #Grassley & Senator Ted #Cruz announced they will offer the bipartisan #Military Justice Improvement Act as an amendment to this year’s National #Defense Authorization Act. gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/rel… #NDAA #MJIA #PassMJIA
"Despite years of Congressional reforms, thousands of service members are raped & sexually assaulted every year. In many of those cases, the assailant is someone in the survivor’s own chain of command." -- #military #MST #MilitarySexualTrauma #MJIA #PassMJIA
"Only a small fraction of the perpetrators are ever held accountable for their violent crimes. Last year, the @DeptofDefense announced a record number of sexual assaults reported by or against service members, & yet, less than 10% of cases considered for command action ever..."
"...proceeded to trial. Worse yet, despite repeated efforts to stamp out the scourge of retaliation against #military sexual assault survivors, the most recent Pentagon survey found that 64% of survivors say they have experienced some form of retaliation for reporting the crime."
“Clearly the time for incremental change is over. The bipartisan Military Justice Improvement Act will help ensure service members can receive justice by moving the decision of whether to prosecute serious crimes over to independent, trained, professional military prosecutors..."
"...while leaving uniquely #military crimes within the chain of command. Our men & women in uniform risk their lives to keep us safe & it’s long since time we gave them a #justice system that is fair & professional.” said Senator Kirsten #Gillibrand. #MJIA #MilitaryJusticeReform
#MJIA "...would help ensure impartial justice & send the message that sexual assault in the military will not be tolerated... We owe it to the heroes who put their lives on the line in service to their country & ask for so little in return,” said Senator @ChuckGrassley. #PassMJIA
“Sexual assault is horrific & must never be tolerated. Unfortunately, it remains an enormous problem in our armed forces, in part because, under the status quo victims are reluctant to come forward," said @SenTedCruz. -- #TedCruz #military #MJIA #PassMJIA
The #MilitaryJustice Improvement Act would remove the sole decision-making authority over whether serious crimes are prosecuted from the #military chain-of-command & give it to independent, trained military prosecutors. #MJIA #PassMJIA
Ensure #judge advocates vested with disposition authority would: #1 Be outside the accused's chain of command #2 Exercise professional prosecutorial judgment when deciding whether to proceed to court martial #3 Render decisions to proceed to trial free from conflicts of interest
In addition to Senators #Gillibrand, #Grassley, & #Cruz, the Military Justice Improvement Act is cosponsored by Senators Tammy #Duckworth, Jeanne #Shaheen, Patrick #Leahy, Dick #Durbin, Elizabeth #Warren, Michael #Bennet, Jeff #Merkley, Richard #Blumenthal, & Ron #Wyden.
The Military Justice Improvement Act is also cosponsored by Senators Mazie #Hirono, Maggie #Hassan, Tammy #Baldwin, Chris #Coons, Bob #Menendez, Dianne #Feinstein, Tom #Udall, Amy #Klobuchar, Sherrod #Brown, Lisa #Murkowski, Tina #Smith, Cory #Booker, & Bernie #Sanders. #PassMJA
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