You can click here to sign Heitkamp's petition:Our brothers and sisters in the armed services, who volunteer to fight around the world to protect our freedoms, are being denied justice back home.We recently learned that sexual assaults in the military rose to 26,000 last year. And last week, the general in charge of our servicemen and women in Japan was suspended for neglecting sexual assault cases.
The brave men and women in the military deserve better. That’s why I’m co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill that tackles the culture of violence by adding outside accountability.
This common sense reform supports victims by closing the loophole allowing military officers to arbitrarily overturn a jury’s decision.
I’m proud to stand with Senator Kay Hagan in pushing for immediate Senate action on this reform. Please join us and add your voice to demand justice now.Click here to call on the Senate to act now to pass common sense reform to reduce sexual assault in the military:
http://action.kayhagan.com/...
Our brave men and women in the armed services sacrifice greatly for our country. The least we can do for them is to ensure that their rights at home and abroad are secure.
We can’t stand by and continue to allow a system that fails so many victims. I won’t have it. It’s time for us to act.
Click here to make your voice heard in the Senate:
http://action.kayhagan.com/...
Thank you for your support,
Heidi
http://action.kayhagan.com/...
Glad to see Heitkamp on board with this. Senator Hagan, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services committee truly has been a one of the best Senators leading on this issue. We need this bill now more than every, especially with the latest news:
Luckily Gillibrand and other female Senators aren't giving up. Please do contact Senator Levin and express your discontent:Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, offered a measure that would give military prosecutors rather than commanders the power to decide which sexual assault crimes to try, with the goal of increasing the number of people who report crimes without fear of retaliation. Mr. Levin, Democrat of Michigan, said he would replace Ms. Gillibrand’s measure — which has 27 co-sponsors, including four Republicans — with one that would require a senior military officer to review decisions by commanders who decline to prosecute sexual assault cases. Although Mr. Levin’s measure would change the current system, it would keep prosecution of sexual assault cases within the chain of command, as the military wants.Mr. Levin’s decision to support military brass in their resistance to Ms. Gillibrand’s proposal sets up a confrontation between a long-serving chairman of the committee with strong ties to the armed forces and a relatively new female member — one of a record seven women serving on the committee — who has made sexual assault in the military a signature issue.“They basically embrace the status quo here,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, a co-sponsor of Ms. Gillibrand’s bill. “It’s outrageous.”
“If word gets out that the military justice system is not properly attentive to these cases, military personnel will vote with their feet,” said Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School.
Ms. Gillbrand may have a chance to renew her measure on the Senate floor this summer, something she will almost certainly seek. “Senator Gillibrand has nerves of steel,” Mr. Fidell said. “Whether her bill is what Congress should enact I don’t know, but I commend her for standing her ground.” - New York Times, 6/11/13
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