Editorial: The Senate misses the point on military rape
The Star-Ledger Editorial Board writes:
This week, the U.S. Senate is expected to pass a bill to fight rape in the military. But not the best bill.
Yes, it includes some good reforms: It forbids commanders from overturning jury convictions for sexual assault, requires a civilian review board when they decline to prosecute and makes it a crime to retaliate against victims.
Some members of the Senate think that’s quite enough. But this measure, pushed by Sen. Claire McCaskill, stops short of what’s really needed to fight rape culture in our military: To take prosecutions out of the chain of command altogether.
