Cully Stimson on “Sexual Assault in The Military: Understanding the Problem and How to Fix It”

In the spirit of keeping national security law devotees up to date on those topics that broadly effect military readiness, I thought I’d highlight a new Heritage Foundation special report released earlier today.  “Sexual Assault in the Military: Understanding the Problem and How To Fix It” delves into the issue of the unique nature of the military justice system as compared to its civilian counterpart.  We start with the facts: sexual assault in the military is a real problem.  The paper highlights the unique duties of military commanders, and why convening authorities must retain the ability to enforce good order and discipline in the armed forces.  The paper takes a unique position, given the partisan nature of Washington: it is pro victim and pro defendant.  Given the hearings on the Hill this spring and summer, Congress will act on this issue.  The only question is what will they pass?  Last time they tried to legislate a fix to the problem, they created a mess, as we highlight in the paper.  As many of you know, the House has passed its version of the NDAA, and contained within that are amendments to improve the military justice system.  The Senate takes up its amendment to the NDAA in a few weeks, including some dealing with military sexual assault.  The paper discusses all House, Senate, and Executive branch changes or amendments.  As you’re aware, there has been an ongoing debate among senior military leaders and Congress as to how and whether Congress should radically change the military criminal justice system (the Senator Gillibrand approach), or make prudent and thoughtful modifications to the existing system (Levin- Inhofe approach).  In order to provide a better and deeper understanding of the military criminal justice system and how it differs necessarily from the civilian criminal justice system, we decided to focus on this issue and explain how the system must be improved for victims of sexual assault and those accused of crimes together.  Click here to read the report.  Details about tomorrow’s panel event at the Heritage Foundation can be found here.