Claire McCaskill’s sexual assault bill passes
Politico reports:
Sen. Claire McCaskill’s legislation to force changes in the military’s sexual assault policies passed the Senate on Monday without dissent, capping her latest bid to get the Pentagon to clean up its ranks.
The 97-0 vote on the Missouri Democrat’s measure establishing new rules for how victims and defendants should be treated came as no surprise, particularly since it had already cleared a procedural vote to final passage, 100-0.
Even Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and backers of a more controversial approach to overhaul the World War II-era military justice system — removing the chain of command from prosecutions — supported McCaskill’s legislation as another key step to give victims greater power in the legal process.
