Congress set to change military sexual assault prosecutions

WASHINGTON — After years of debate, Congress is on track to change how the U.S. military handles sexual assault cases, by taking some authority out of the hands of commanders and instead using independent prosecutors. “By moving the decision to prosecute a servicemember for rape, domestic violence, murder and other serious crimes out of the chain of command to an independent military prosecutor, we would finally address a gaping wound for sexual assault survivors and provide a pathway to justice,” she said. “When the commander is so deeply involved in a case, there’s no independence for the prosecutor and there’s no perception of independence for the accused or the accuser.” She added that keeping commanders involved will add layers of bureaucracy and slow the process down, “making it longer for survivors to seek justice and to see justice.” Instead, her legislation would have independent prosecutors handle felonies that call for more than a year in prison. “I am disappointed that we did not get every aspect of our bill included and we should have the ability to do that.” Asked Wednesday about the legislation, which passed the House on a 363-70 vote, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House principal deputy press secretary, said Biden “believes that this legislation takes groundbreaking steps to improve the response to and prevention of sexual assault in the military.”