A special Pentagon panel is recommending a seismic shift in how the U.S. military handles sexual assault cases, saying independent judge advocates, not commanding officers, should decide whether to pursue legal charges in such cases.
Such a shift would run counter to years of military practice. The Pentagon has long resisted the idea of taking sexual assault cases outside of the normal chain of command.
The decision of whether to put the panel’s recommendations into practice now rests with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who created the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military on President Biden’s orders.
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