Sea change?

5/3/2021

Gen. Milley has put the fox among the chickens?

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and senior military adviser to the president, said Monday he is now open to a proposal that would take decisions on sexual assault prosecutions out of commanders' hands, AP reports.

The proposed changes Milley referred to were recommended by an independent review panel. Though he did not endorse them, he said the military's issues surrounding sexual assault have persisted for too long.
"We’ve been at it for years, and we haven’t effectively moved the needle," he said. "We have to. We must."
Part of his shift in opinion is due to junior service members' lack of faith in the fairness of sexual assault case outcomes, he said, though he noted he is reserving final judgment until military leadership has reviewed the recommendations.
"That’s really bad for our military if that’s true, and survey and the evidence indicate it is true," he said. "That’s a really bad situation if the enlisted force — the junior enlisted force — lacks confidence in their chain of command to be able to effectively deal with the issue of sexual assault."

Axios among others is reporting as we write.

Cheers, PC.

2 Comments

Concerned Citizen

5/3/2021 06:35:42 pm

It is really difficult to see how the rationale for denying accused Soldiers what in the civilian world is considered a fair trial if this is going to overseen by civilians.

If the uniformed Army is not responsible for making decisions about who gets prosecuted, how can anyone possibly sincerely say that the military is a "special society" that needs different rules.

So, for instance, who is going to pick panels, the civilian overseen Office of the Special Victims Prosecutor? Or the untrustworthy chain of command who is apparently trying to sweep things under the rug?

Soldiers expressed concern about lack of due process and having careers ruined by false allegations, which the independent committee just rejected out of hand - curious if GEN Milley is concerned about that perception?

Attorney

5/3/2021 06:37:35 pm

I really don't understand what he's getting at when he says we haven't "moved the needle." Moved the needle toward what, exactly, General? More prosecutions? Convictions? Reports?

We have taken away clemency. We have taken away Article 32 investigations. We have created Special Victim's Counsel. We have mandated sexual assault training throughout military bases. We have made it way harder to get access to mental health records.

What systematic injustice have commanders been engaged that we must take their discretion to ensure good order and discipline in their unit and give it to some JAG -- who by the way, will most likely refer *fewer* cases?

It's almost as if they're in search of a problem rather than a solution....

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