Gillibrand: Army general's case shows need for reform

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/03/gillibrand-army-generals-case-shows-need-reform



Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., chair of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, talks about her proposal to let military prosecutors rather than commanders make decisions on whether to prosecute sexual assaults in the military. She is photographed in her Capitol Hill office in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014.

Gillibrand: Army general's case shows need for reform
By Stewart M. Powell
The New York Times
© March 22, 2014

WASHINGTON

The sentence given a prominent Army general Thursday in a court martial prompted Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, R-N.Y., to renew her call for sexual-assault prosecutions to be decided by independent military prosecutors alone rather than unit commanders.

"This case has illustrated a military justice system in dire need of independence from the chain of command," declared Gillibrand, the architect of the most far-reaching proposal to overhaul sexual assault prosecutions in the armed forces.

Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair was reprimanded and fined $20,000 — but given no jail time and allowed to retire with military benefits — as a result of guilty pleas at Fort Bragg, N.C., to adultery with a subordinate Army captain for three years, inappropriate sexually-tinged relationships with two other subordinates and the misuse of a government credit card.

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The prosecution was "botched from the beginning by an incompetent investigation overseen by a commander that never wanted to bring these charges forward," the lawmaker said. "The military justice system is broken as long as legal decisions are left up to commanders with no legal expertise and a bias to protect the assailant."

[Baitball Blogger]

1. Yes! Yes!

People, the worst idea ever is to give commanders or politicians the final say-so when it comes to deciding if a case should be prosecuted. Take the politics out of the system! It's the only way that justice will really trickle down.