Congressional leaders recently reached a deal that creates several changes to the military’s justice system in regards to cases of sexual assault. For instance, commanders are no longer able to veto a jury conviction for a sexual assault case. The changes were incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act, and will have to be approved by the House, Senate and President Obama before being finalized.
Some leaders like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., are pushing for further change in the way of removing all power from the hands of commanders. Executive director of Service Women’s Action Network, Anu Bhagwati, forcefully stated that Congress should have already approved Gillibrand’s proposal. “Congress has chosen to sidestep the most important military justice reform to come across its desk in history, once again leaving sexual assault victims devastated and betrayed by inaction,” she said.
However, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told USA Today in an interview that Gillibrand’s solution may not be as effective as she thinks. “If you disconnect the commanders from this, you absolve them of any knowledge, responsibility or accountability for what’s going on in their very command,” Hagel said. “Commanders need to know about their people. They are responsible for their people. They are accountable for their people. That’s why I think it would be counterproductive in every way to disconnect the commanders from this.”
