Grassley, Bipartisan Group of Senators Reintroduce Military Justice Improvement Act

Statement

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in leading a bipartisan group of senators to reintroduce the Military Justice Improvement Act. This legislation would professionalize how the military prosecutes serious crimes by moving the decision over whether or not to prosecute from the chain of command to independent, trained and professional military prosecutors. According to the Department of Defense's own data in this year's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) report, there were an estimated 20,500 instances of sexual assault -- a massive increase over the 14,900 estimated in the previous 2016 survey. The number of women in the military who experienced sexual assault increased by 50 percent, from 8,600 in FY2016 to 13,000 in FY2018. In fact, by the department's own admission, the odds of young service women experiencing a sexual assault is one in eight, yet commanders have sent fewer cases to trial, from 588 in FY2014 to 389 in FY2016 to 307 in FY2018.

"Justice is a founding principle enshrined in the Constitution. Those who have dedicated themselves to protecting and defending the Constitution as part of the armed forces deserve justice as much as anyone else. But their fidelity has been betrayed by a system that discourages reporting of sexual assault and far too often fails to punish perpetrators. This is the fourth Congress I've supported this legislation. It's time for it to become law. We owe it to the heroes who put their lives on the line in service to their country and ask for so little in return," Grassley said.

Five years ago, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, said the military was "on the clock" to fix military sexual assault, and indicated it would be right to bring a bill back to the floor in a year if they hadn't solved the problem. In the years since, incremental reforms have been implemented yet sexual assault in the military has remained pervasive and dramatically increased over the last two years, with many service members still having little faith in the military justice system.

The Military Justice Improvement Act would professionalize how the military prosecutes serious crimes like sexual assault, which would help remove the systemic fear that survivors of military sexual assault describe in deciding whether to report the crimes committed against them. This legislation would remove the sole decision-making authority over whether serious crimes are prosecuted from the military chain-of-command and give it to independent, trained military prosecutors. Uniquely military crimes, such as a soldier going AWOL, and other non-judicial and administrative remedies, would stay within the chain of command.

Specifically, the Military Justice Improvement Act would do the following:
Grant the authority to send criminal charges to trial (disposition authority) to designated judge advocates (military lawyers) in the rank of O-6 or higher who possess significant criminal justice experience.
Ensure that judge advocates vested with disposition authority would
Be outside the chain of command of the accused.
Exercise professional prosecutorial judgment when deciding whether to proceed to court martial.
Render decisions to proceed to trial free from conflicts of interest.

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