My San Antonio: Military lawyers should handle sexual assault cases
An opinion piece written for Express-News:
Recent efforts to remove the decision-making process from commanders where serious sexual assaults are concerned are controversial but ultimately well advised. The issue is not the quality of the prosecutors or investigators; I was a civilian consultant in the U.S. Army JAG Corps for almost three years, and encountered largely dedicated and well-trained men and women who wanted justice for victims.
But I also found a continuing blind spot that makes sexual violence impossible to adequately address under current military justice practice. In simplest terms, our military as a whole faces a perfect storm of a small but prolific percentage of predators in its midst colliding with an especially vulnerable population. Combined with the dynamics often associated with both, the approach to making the military safe within the ranks must evolve to recognize and meet this threat.
