Military Justice

3/21/2014

What is about the military making news above and today below the fold in the A section of the newspaper?  

First, why did a Brig General only receive a $20,000 fine but avoided jail?  You know as well as I do, that if we did the same thing as the General did, we'd be sitting in a cell by now.  His crime? Having an affair with an officer under his command as well as having improper relationships with two other women.  The officer who had an affair with the General for three years, also reported that she was sexually assaulted on two occasions and threatened to kill her and her family about the affair.

Do you remember the movie "An Officer and a Gentlemen"?  Well this General is neither. I think he's an embarrassment to the Army and by only having to pay a fine - and a small one at that - where is the justice for the women?

The military's promise to have a zero tolerance for sexual offenses doesn't seem to be happening.  Had these offenses been conducted by a enlisted man (i.e., not a high ranking officer), you better believe he would find his fanny in jail in record time.  Once again a person in power suffers very little.  The same cannot be said for the women "involved" voluntarily or involuntarily.  No justice for these women and we can only hope that they will not be put back under the General's command.

Then we turn to the Navy.  A midshipman was acquitted of sexual assault at the Navy Academy.  The judge find the midshipman not guilty, but has been dismissed from the Academy.  Okay that's a smudge on his resume but for the assaulted woman it sends a clear message of "these people aren't going to believe me", which leads to any number of unreported incidents.  Who can blame the women?  I certainly can't.  

For me it would be really difficult, if not impossible, to run into the this man on campus and feeling that justice was not served?  Luckily the woman will graduate this spring and hopefully put this behind her.

I don't know about you, but frankly I'm tired of women being walked on when they bring an offense to the light of day.  No wonder women hesitate to accuse a man of inappropriate sexual behavior - likely they're not going to win.

P