Editorial: Our military justice system needs more reform
The Washington Post Editorial Board writes:
Whether the right decisions were rendered last week in the military’s two high-profile cases of sexual assault is a matter of some dispute. Given the shape of the cases before them, we tend to think the judges in both probably made the right calls. But the process along the way was so flawed that it’s hard to have any confidence that justice was done.
The cases have renewed attention on the need to change a military justice system that is susceptible to letting factors other than the evidence influence which sexual assault cases are brought to trial. One involved Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, reprimanded for mistreating an Army captain with whom he had an affair; the other, Midshipman Joshua Tate, a former Naval Academy football player acquitted of sexual assault. Both show why trained, independent prosecutors, not commanding officers with competing concerns, should be in charge of deciding which cases come to trial. Legislation championed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) that would have brought about this critical reform got 55 votes in the Senate this month, a clear majority but unfortunately five short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster.
