Sen. Claire McCaskill is on the verge of a historic victory reforming the Pentagon’s sexual assault policies.
But rather than basking in acclaim during the debate’s climatic week in the Capitol, the Missouri Democrat finds herself paying a political cost for being an outlier within her own caucus. She’s the only one of the Senate’s 16 Democratic women opposing a much more sweeping change that removes the chain of command from prosecuting sexual assault and other major military crimes.
“Dear @clairecmc Thanks 4 railroading the Military Justice Improvement Act. Is it true that you have never served a day in your life? #MJIA,” Jennifer Norris, a Maine-based Air Force veteran who works with sexual assault victims…tweeted, referring to Gillibrand’s legislative proposal by its official name. -Politico
Editor’s Note: It appears the original tweet has disappeared and it was never deleted by Jennifer Norris. Also the tweet is not on the web version of the article but is still part of the mobile version of the article.
The Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA), although not the final answer, is a great first step in our fight for justice for crime victims. Currently, the Department of Defense (DoD) estimates that 26,300 service members are victims of military sexual assault (touching). These numbers do not include other violent crimes, sexual harassment, stalking, bullying, hazing, etc. Of those numbers, the DoD estimates that more then half of them are male victims, which proves that this is not a female issue but instead a repeat offender issue.
The military’s current justice system elevates an individual Commander’s discretion over the rule of law. The MJIA legislation would help us create an impartial system where victims would feel safe to report. They are telling us in their own voices that they do not trust the Chain of Command to handle their cases effectively. Recent DoD studies have shown that 62% of those who reported were in fact retaliated against which reinforces others to remain silent.
The MJIA would not only give them a safe place to report confidentially but would allow a legal professional to determine whether or not a case should be tried in a court of law. The biggest problem with military sexual assault is underreporting. We can’t fix the problem unless the soldiers feel safe enough to report. We can’t rid the military of perpetrators if we do not work together to get a conviction and protect our military and civilians.
Domestic violence is a significant, serious issue for Fort Hood Soldiers and Families. The impact of violence on children and Families causes damage that spans lifetimes and even generations. As a result, the issue has the direct attention of Bell County and Maj. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division and senior commander at Fort Hood.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month at Fort Hood. The focus given by military leaders on this critical matter both heightens community awareness and highlights the support available to those affected by violence in the home.
When men end up in Anne Potts Jackson’s office, the signs often paint them as domestic abusers: controlling behavior, angry outbursts that turn violent.
As an assistant district attorney in Bell County, home of Fort Hood, Jackson tries to determine what’s behind all that. Are these men true batterers, or are they soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder?
“Anger is the predominant emotion of the combat experience. It is the emotion that kept him alive, kept her alive, when he was in Afghanistan or Iraq,” Jackson said. “But it is the thing — the emotion — that will get him arrested at home.” As an Air Force wife herself, Jackson understands the tensions that exist inside military households.
Wake up, America. The boys are coming home, and they’re not the boys who went away.
On New Year’s Day, the New York Times welcomed the advent of 2009 by reporting that, since returning from Iraq, nine members of the Fort Carson, Colorado, Fourth Brigade Combat team had been charged with homicide. Five of the murders they were responsible for took place in 2008 when, in addition, “charges of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault” at the base rose sharply. Some of the murder victims were chosen at random; four were fellow soldiers — all men. Three were wives or girlfriends.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. Men sent to Iraq or Afghanistan for two, three, or four tours of duty return to wives who find them “changed” and children they barely know. Tens of thousands return to inadequate, underfunded veterans’ services with appalling physical injuries, crippling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suck-it-up sergeants who hold to the belief that no good soldier seeks help. That, by the way, is a mighty convenient belief for the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, which have been notoriously slow to offer much of that help.
A few months after Sgt. William Edwards and his wife, Sgt. Erin Edwards, returned to a Texas Army base from separate missions in Iraq, he assaulted her mercilessly. He struck her, choked her, dragged her over a fence and slammed her into the sidewalk.
As far as Erin Edwards was concerned, that would be the last time he beat her.
Unlike many military wives, she knew how to work the system to protect herself. She was an insider, even more so than her husband, since she served as an aide to a brigadier general at Fort Hood.
With the general’s help, she quickly arranged for a future transfer to a base in New York. She pressed charges against her husband and secured an order of protection. She sent her two children to stay with her mother. And she received assurance from her husband’s commanders that he would be barred from leaving the base unless accompanied by an officer.
Yet on the morning of July 22, 2004, William Edwards easily slipped off base, skipping his anger-management class, and drove to his wife’s house in the Texas town of Killeen. He waited for her to step outside and then, after a struggle, shot her point-blank in the head before turning the gun on himself.
Fred and Amber Dalton’s marriage becomes a battle when Fred lies about his affair with a feisty young woman. Later, when Specialist Megan Touma breaks the military’s rules with fellow serviceman Edgar Patino…with deadly consequences. -Love is a Battlefield, Deadly Affairs (S2,E11)
American soldier Megan Touma has left her husband for her lover Edgar. Turns out Edgar has a spouse of his own. When Megan gets pregnant Edgar must make a decision between two women. Someone will be left brokenhearted and someone will be left dead. -Love is a Battlefield, Scorned: Love Kills (S5,E2)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
A new study in the Journal of Family Violencestarts off with a strong, hard truth: “Female Veterans experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at alarming rates.” Women in military service, the authors say, are not only at risk of sexual assault while they are serving; they are also at a much greater risk of domestic violence at home than non-vets. The authors, led by Katherine M. Iverson at the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, say that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) needs to be much better equipped to detect and treat this persistent and troubling phenomenon than they are now.
In January, veterans were able to address the House Armed Services Committee regarding crime and non combat death in the military. The testimony was on the heels of what was referred to in the media as the “Lackland Sex Scandal.” The veterans specifically emphasized that crime is military wide and not specific to the Air Force. The veterans also shared that most service members are not reporting because of a fear of retaliation. Shortly after the testimony was given, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced the combat exclusion policy was lifted and the media was poised to move in that direction.
Then in March, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand asked for a hearing on Military Sexual Assault with those on the personnel subcommittee to the Senate Armed Services Committee. At that time four other veterans testified and affirmed that removing the Chain of Command would have helped prevent their current situations due to the retaliation.
Senator Gillibrand announced in May that she was going to sponsor the Military Justice Improvement Act, which is a law that would restrict the Commanders from handling felony crimes of over a year or more sentence. She introduced it to the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senator Carl Levin shut the whole thing down. It was at this time that Senator Claire McCaskill, Senator Kelly Ayotte, Senator Jon Tester, Senator Jim Inhofe, and Senator Levin started to fight for the Department of Defense and keep everything status quo.
Right now we are trying to get support from the other Senators to force the MJIA bill back on the table. We have both Democrats and Republicans on board and recently Conservatives like Senator Rand Paul, Senator Chuck Grassley, and Senator Ted Cruz have signed on because they understand the constitutional aspect of this dilemma. We should not be reporting felony crimes to our boss. We should be reporting violent crimes to a legal authority of some sort. One person, ie the Commander, should not have sole discretion over whether or not we proceed with justice.
Please contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to sponsor legislation that mirrors that of the civilian justice system. Victims of crimes should report to police, the police should investigate the claims, the police should enter the information into the FBI national database, and then a prosecutor can make a decision as to whether one can move forward with a case in a court of law. A person’s claim needs to be corroborated in some way so that we have the evidence necessary to go to court, win, and put a criminal behind bars.
Full Episode: A beautiful, vibrant young woman fell to her death from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Initially, investigators thought it was just a terrible accident. But after a closer forensic examination of photographs taken at the scene, police had a very different story of what had happened. -The Financial Downfall, Forensic Files (S9, E12)
Name: Virginia Reardon, Billie Joe McGinnis Occupation: Reardon was a Retired Hospital Worker; McGinnis-Unknown Pathology: Conspiracy, Premeditated Murder, First Degree Murder Dates: April 2, 1987 Location:Big Sur, California (Central Coast) Motive: Greed, Financial Gain, Life Insurance Money Victims: Deanna Hubbard Wild (son’s wife) M.O.: Purchased Life Insurance Policy, Pushed off Cliff Next Day, Claimed Accident Conviction: Reardon Sentenced to Life, No Parole Status: McGinnis Dead in 1991, Reardon Dead in 2011 Appearance: Financial Downfall (Forensic Files), Vicious Vixens (Deadly Women)
Investigation Discovery:
ID Go: Cross these deadly vixens at your own risk. An English beauty spars with her boyfriend, a middle-aged woman sacrifices lives for money, and a couple of game players lure an innocent man into a deadly trap: these women will certainly fight to the death. -Vicious Vixens, Deadly Women (S7, E5)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Sen. Claire McCaskill is on the verge of a historic victory reforming the Pentagon’s sexual assault policies.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 