Patrie conducts a careful and detailed examination of sexual assault in the military with a review of several recent high-profile cases. She proposes a framework to enforce judicial noninterference in sensitive military affairs while also ensuring that the military does not violate servicemembers’ constitutional rights.
The author ignores the authority in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8) for the Congress “To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;”; the courts have signaled that the mish-mash of laws is proving unfair to certain servicemembers but it does not follow that the courts are the correct way to address this.
I applaud the efforts of Senators to hold senior officers accountable through the advice and consent power and await the action of the Congress to fix the law.