Voters Are in Favor of the Military Justice Improvement Act
By Sabrina Jacobs
In typical trials, lawyers are in charge of prosecuting sexual assault cases. However, military sexual assault cases differ in that they are prosecuted by military commanders. Some argue that military commanders should prosecute these cases since they know their personnel and the military justice system. However, military commanders don’t have legal training and their involvement may prevent service members from coming forward about sexual assault. According to Lynn Rosenthal, who led an independent review on sexual assault in the military for the Department of Defense, 20,000 service members experience sexual assault every year and only 8,000 report those assaults.
A recent poll by Data for Progress finds 62 percent of voters believe that military commanders should not prosecute sexual assault cases. This includes 73 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of Independents, and 50 percent of Republicans.
In response to the argument that military commanders shouldn’t be prosecuting sexual assault cases, lawmakers proposed the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would replace military commanders with independent lawyers as the prosecutors of sexual assault in the military.
Seventy-three percent of voters are in favor of the replacing military commanders with independent lawyers as prosecutors for sexual assault, including 82 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of Independents, and 64 percent of Republicans.
Voters generally agree that passing the Military Justice Improvement Act will have an impact on sexual assault in the military, from more service members coming forward to the way cases are prosecuted. However, they’re split on how big that impact will be. Thirty-six percent of voters believe the act will have a large impact, including 50 percent of Democrats, 25 percent of Independents, and 30 percent of Republicans. On the other hand, 37 percent of voters believe the proposal will have a small impact. This includes 34 percent of Democrats, 39 percent of Independents, and 38 percent of Republicans.
Regardless, voters are in agreement that Democrats support this proposal over Republicans. Fifty-five percent of voters believe that Democrats are in favor of the Military Justice Improvement Act, including 80 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of Independents, and 33 percent of Republicans. Only 25 percent of voters associate this proposal with the Republican Party.
It’s crucial that service members feel that they can come forward about sexual assault without fear of retaliation. Fixing the way sexual assault is prosecuted in the military justice system is an important step toward creating a safer environment for service members.
Sabrina Jacobs (@bri_jacobs) is a digital fellow at Data for Progress.