Kirsten Gillibrand would not give up. The New York senator labored for a decade to reform how the military justice system works (and doesn’t work). And now she has prevailed. The thousands of annual cases of sexual assault and rape in the ranks will be handled like crimes among civilians, not brushed aside or even ignored by the brass.
The generals and the admirals, stuck in their traditions, wanted to keep military commanders in charge of the prosecutions of major crimes instead of handing it to independent legal professionals, as should have happened long ago. And with the Pentagon’s resistance came resistance from the Pentagon’s pals on Capitol Hill, notably Jack Reed, the West Pointer from Rhode Island chairing the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Even though Gillibrand had a bipartisan two-thirds of the Senate as cosponsors of her Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, Reed was too powerful and always thwarted the reforms. But Gillibrand was the tougher of the two and this year she won across the board.
