Editorial: Sinclair case shows need for moving sexual assault charges outside military justice
The News and Observer Editorial Board writes:
Kirsten Gillibrand, Democratic senator of New York, had it right when she tried to shift sexual assault cases and the decision on whether to prosecute them away from the military chain of command. Unfortunately, Gillibrand was up against traditions of the armed forces – which are rarely changed, much less overturned – and some reluctant senators. She failed to get the votes she needed.
But now, watching the complexities of the sexual assault case against Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair drag on for two years, the public has had a troubling but close view of why such prosecutions should indeed be left to prosecutors and not be handled at the discretion of commanders.
The case of Sinclair, who was tried at Fort Bragg, started to unravel when Army prosecutors apparently concluded their chief witness, the general’s former lover, had lied at a pre-trial hearing. So they scrambled to make a plea bargain in which sexual assault charges would be dropped.
