Jurisdictional gaps, sexual misconduct, and the National Guard

Congress has been active, over at least the last decade, in reforming the military justice system's handling of sexual assault and harassment. Those reforms, in part, have required commanders to investigate harassment or report allegations of sexual assault within narrow timeframes. A recent article on Military.com highlights gaps in these reforms, where the National Guard, at times, has failed to address such allegations at all.   

The article highlights two cases, one from Virginia and the other from Nevada, where complainants felt the National Guard did not adequately investigate sexual misconduct. The article explained, in ways my personal experience can attest to, how cases can slip through the cracks in units that drill a couple of days each month. Sometimes such units do not clarify for personnel how their complaints will necessarily reach a receptive audience. And sometimes such drilling complicates efforts to find federal jurisdiction over sexual misconduct.