Brown, Speier, Gillibrand And Bipartisan, Bicameral Coalition Introduce Comprehensive Military Justice Reform

Press Release

Congressman Anthony G. Brown (D-MD) joined Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA), Chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, and Congressman Michael R. Turner (R-OH), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, along with a bipartisan coalition of co-leads to introduce legislation to reform the military justice system by moving the decision to prosecute serious crimes in the military from the chain of command.

The Vanessa Guillén Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act is the House companion to S.1520, sponsored by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Charles Grassley (R-IA), and which has 66 co-sponsors. The Members are calling on Congress to take up the legislation expeditiously as a standalone measure.

In addition to tackling the serious issue of sexual assault in the military and holding servicemembers accountable for their crimes, this legislation would address systemic barriers to justice for servicemembers of color. Black and Hispanic servicemembers are more likely than white members to be tried in general and special courts-martial in all of the military services, even when controlling for attributes such as rank and education. This is across every service of our military.

While 43% of our servicemembers are people of color, only two of the 41 most senior admirals and generals are Black. Moving prosecution decisions to professionals could help to reduce this bias.

"Our military justice system is failing servicemembers of color and survivors of sexual assault. The young women and men who wear the uniform and protect our country deserve a system that provides fairness and equal justice. It's time for comprehensive reform," said Congressman Brown. "This legislation is an important step forward in tackling the serious systemic disparities and disproportionate rate of punishment against servicemembers of color. We need to create a culture in our military and its justice system that protects all those who answer the call to serve and reflects our values. We owe it to our servicemembers to get this done."

Co-leading this effort in the House are Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Elaine Luria (D-VA), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), and Richard Hudson (R-NC).

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