Military Justice Improvement Act

Senate Bill 1752, The Military Justice Improvement Act became effective in November 2013, by Senator Kristen E. Gillibrand who is a democrat from New York. According to her official biography page<"[1]> this is her second military act passed, the first being “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”. Due to working on the Armed Services Committee, she has passed more legislation, and has worked on other committees including Agriculture Committee, and the Aging Committee. She was one of the main contributors to The Military Justice Improvement Act. This act deals with Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Secretaries of Defense (SecDef), and the Homeland Security Act (HAS). These acts come together to determine if a member of the military should be charged in front of a court system. According to Blumenthal, Bipartisan Group of Senators, Join Survivors, Retired General, Advocates, To Kick off Final Two-Week Push to Pass the Military Justice Improvement Act2 <[2]>, the act deals with sexual assaults within the military. This act wants to have a separate court, outside of the chain of command or the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to hear the sexual assault cases. Victims were facing biased decisions, the command decided if a case moves forward within the system. The military justice system would not remain equal and unbiased as seem in traditional court of law. It also gives the victims protection and reassurance they are safe to report these crimes. There is a limit on what this act covers, for example a traditional court will not hear cases about members of the military taking leave without approval, and other common offenses, sexual assault is not just a military related offense. Zero tolerance against sexual assault in the military is not a new growing offense. This has always been present in the military field, but The Military Justice Improvement Act gives more protection to the victims. A lot of fellow senators went on to support this Act because they felt as though they were failing the people who serve for our freedoms, as Senator Chuck Grassley for Iowa stated within the article Grassley Pushes for Independent Military Justice System3 <[3]>. The senators also got support from Air Force Chief Prosecutor Colonel Don Christensen, who retired after twenty three years in due to the fact that he could not help the corruption from the inside3 <[4]> The longer the senators wait on this act, the more corruption the military faces with the way the head of command handles these sexual assault cases. Within this time of the Military Justice Improvement act came The National Defense Authorization Act for 20144<Martinez, Aaron. "Local Congressmen Vote against Defense Act despite More Money for Fort Bliss." [5]>. The National Defense Authorization Act is the finical or spending side for the military, as seen in the article by Aaron Martinez. These two acts correlate because, Senator Carl Levin wanted to defeat Senator Gillibrand for the passage into changing the way the military handles situations. It was a subcommittee and committee fighting for their legislation to get passed within the Armed Forces committee. It caused a lot of problems for the main Armed Forces Committee during this time. But, the The Military Justice Improvement Act was passed eventually.



Notes

  1. ↑ Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator for New York." Kirsten Gillibrand. The Office of Kirsten Gillibrand, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2015
  2. ↑ Blumental, Richard, Ted Cruz, and Mazie K. Hirono. "Blumenthal, Bipartisan Group of Senators, Join Survivors, Retired General, Advocates, To Kick off Final Two-Week Push to Pass the Military Justice Improvement Act."Blumenthal, Bipartisan Group of Senators, Join Survivors, Retired General, Advocates, To Kick off Final Two-Week Push to Pass the Military Justice Improvement Act (2013): 1-997. Lexis Nexis. Web. 29 Apr. 2015
  3. ↑ Grassley Pushes for Independent Military Justice System." Newswire (n.d.): 1-17. LexisNexis Academic [LexisNexis]. Web. 30 Apr. 2015
  4. ↑ "Grassley Pushes for Independent Military Justice System." Newswire (n.d.): 1-17. LexisNexis Academic [LexisNexis]. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
  5. ↑ El Paso Times [El Paso] 5 Dec. 2014: 1.LexisNexis Academic [LexisNexis]. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.