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Senate Moves To Eliminate 'Good Soldier' Defense

Raishad Hardnett |
March 10, 2014 | 4:23 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

The Senate unanimously passed a bill that would end the use of "good military character" as a viable defense for military officials accused of sexual assault. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
The Senate unanimously passed a bill that would end the use of "good military character" as a viable defense for military officials accused of sexual assault. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
The Senate unanimously passed a bill that would end the use of "good military character" as a viable defense for military officials accused of sexual assault.

Up until now, the U.S. has upheld a tradition in which citing a defendant's spotless military past is recognized as legitimate legal defense. Advocates of the bill say the legal changes would make it easier to prosecute military sexual assaults.

“Generally, the introduction of evidence of a defendant’s good military character is intended to provide the basis for an inference that the accused is too professional a soldier to have committed the offense with which he is charged,” a Military Law Review article notes.

The bill, written by three female senators, was passed overwhelmingly with a 97-0 vote; the House now can either choose to treat the bill as an independent measure or incorporate it into a larger defense bill.

Contact Executive Producer Raishad Hardnett here



 

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