Monday, September 21, 2020

What's doing in Congress?

Rep. Jackie Speier and others have introduced the "I am Vanessa Guillén Act of 2020." If you were in Congress, would you create a separate disposition regime only for sex offenses? For doubts about this, see this Washington Post article, quoting Global Military Justice Reform contributor Prof. Rachel E. VanLandingham:

VanLandingham took issue with other parts of the bill, including taking prosecutorial discretion away from commanders only in cases of sexual assault and harassment.

“If the purported conflict of interest exists for sexual offenses, it exists for all other crimes as well,” she said. “The root of the issue is if commanders should have prosecutorial discretion at all.”

A provision for damages would also create a “caste system,” she said, in which sexual assault survivors might be compensated but not other assault victims.

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