Protect Our Defenders Issues Statement on Pentagon Conflict of Interest
Washington DC – New legal attacks from all branches of the military are denying victims of sexual assault their fundamental rights — highlighting yet again the broken system of military justice. A military judge, Air Force LTC Joshua Kastenberg in US v. Daniels, USAF, recently ruled that a victim of sexual assault does not have the right to be represented in court by legal counsel. And last Tuesday, a three judge panel (consisting of Col Bradley Roan, Col Peter Marksteiner and Lt Col Karen Hecker) of the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (AFCCA) refused to even consider whether the victim in the case had the due process right to be represented by counsel.
The Air Force currently stands alone in allowing victims’ access to their own legal counsel, with a new program called the Special Victims Counsel (SVC). But, the US Army’s, Navy’s, Coast Guards’, and Marines’ appellate defense offices have all filed briefs in opposition, standing against the Air Force in asserting these rights on behalf of victims.
Today, Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish released the following statement:
“Victims of rape and sexual assault in the military are once again being denied fundamental rights – including the right to be heard and the right to safeguard their privacy and dignity, based on two new United States Air Force court decisions.
Congress has affirmatively spoken on the right of service members who are victims of sexual assault to legal counsel through the passage of s1565b of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Yet time and again the military court system has not consistently recognized this right. In the wake of the ongoing sexual abuse scandal at Lackland Air Force Base, the Air Force recently took a strong step to shield victims from a harsh military justice system by creating a pilot project, the Special Victims Counsel (SVC) program. This new effort assigns an attorney to represent victims of sexual assault and protect their constitutional and procedural rights. Unfortunately, an Air Force judge is preventing this new program from effectively protecting victims.
