2 distinguished DAC-IPAD members write about the charging standard

Two members of DAC-IPAD (the Defense Advisory Committee on the Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces) have written a persuasive op-ed on the need for DoD to promptly settle on and announce a single standard to govern charging decisions by the new Special Trial Counsels. According to retired Federal District Judge Paul Grimm and Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Prokash:

Uniform prosecution standards also would forever put to rest the military’s archaic practice of using the less rigorous standard of probable cause to refer a case to court-martial. Over the last decade, the probable cause referral standard has likely been the culprit for the abysmal conviction rate in sexual assault cases in the armed forces. Additionally, the military is the only jurisdiction in the United States of America that uses probable cause (the standard of proof to obtain a warrant) to refer a case to a felony level trial where the burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. The probable cause standard to refer a case to court-martial has plagued military sexual assault prosecutions for years. As the military professionalizes lawyers in its ranks with the establishment of independent offices charged with prosecuting special victim crimes, it must also adopt uniform principles of prosecution on par with the Department of Justice. And its prosecutors across all services should use the heightened referral standard of admissible evidence to obtain and sustain a conviction.