Military Special Victims Protection Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1500 To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve and enhance protections for members of the Armed Forces who are victims of a sex-related or domestic violence offense, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 16, 2019 Ms. ERNST (for herself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve and enhance protections for members of the Armed Forces who are victims of a sex-related or domestic violence offense, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Special Vic- 4 tims Protection Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1500 IS SEC. 2. ENACTMENT AND EXPANSION OF POLICY ON WITH- 1 HOLDING OF INITIAL DISPOSITION AUTHOR- 2 ITY FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES UNDER THE 3 UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE. 4 (a) INITIAL DISPOSITION AUTHORITY.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 6 graph (2), the proper authority for a determination 7 of disposition of reported offenses with respect to 8 any offense specified in subsection (b) shall be an of- 9 ficer in a grade not below the grade of O–6 in the 10 chain of command of the subject who is authorized 11 by chapter 47 of such title (the Uniform Code of 12 Military Justice) to convene special courts-martial. 13 (2) AUTHORITY WHEN SUBJECT AND VICTIM 14 ARE IN DIFFERENT CHAINS OF COMMAND.—If the 15 victim of an offense specified in subsection (b) is in 16 a different chain of command than the subject, the 17 proper authority under paragraph (1) shall be an of- 18 ficer described in that paragraph in the chain of 19 command of the victim. 20 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub- 21 section shall be construed— 22 (A) to prohibit the preferral of charges by 23 an authorized person under section 830(a)(1) of 24 title 10, United States Code (article 30(a)(1) of 25 the Uniform code of Military Justice), with re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1500 IS spect to the offenses specified in subsection (b), 1 and the forwarding of such charges as so pre- 2 ferred to the proper authority under paragraph 3 (1) with a recommendation as disposition; or 4 (B) to prohibit an officer in a grade below 5 the grade of O–6 from advising an officer de- 6 scribed in paragraph (1) who is making a deter- 7 mination described in that paragraph with re- 8 spect to the disposition of the offenses involved. 9 (b) COVERED OFFENSES.—An offense specified in 10 this subsection is any offense as follows: 11 (1) An offense under section 893 of title 10, 12 United States Code (article 93 of the Uniform Code 13 of Military Justice), relating to cruelty and maltreat- 14 ment, if the offense constitutes sexual harassment. 15 (2) An offense under section 893a of title 10, 16 United States Code (article 93a of the Uniform 17 Code of Military Justice), relating to prohibited ac- 18 tivity with a military recruit or trainee by a person 19 in a position of special trust. 20 (3) An offense under section 918 of title 10, 21 United States Code (article 118 of the Uniform 22 Code of Military Justice), relating to murder, if the 23 offense is committed in connection with family abuse 24 or other domestic violence. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1500 IS (4) An offense under section 919 of title 10, 1 United States Code (article 119 of the Uniform 2 Code of Military Justice), relating to manslaughter, 3 if the offense is committed in connection with family 4 abuse or other domestic violence. 5 (5) An offense under section 919a of title 10, 6 United States Code (article 119a of the Uniform 7 Code of Military Justice), relating to death or injury 8 of an unborn child, if the offense is committed in 9 connection with family abuse or other domestic vio- 10 lence. 11 (6) An offense under section 919b of title 10, 12 United States Code (article 119b of the Uniform 13 Code of Military Justice), relating to child 14 endangerment, if the offense is committed in connec- 15 tion with family abuse or other domestic violence. 16 (7) An offense under section 920 of title 10, 17 United States Code (article 120 of the Uniform 18 Code of Military Justice), relating to rape and sex- 19 ual assault generally. 20 (8) An offense under section 920b of title 10, 21 United States Code (article 120b of the Uniform 22 Code of Military Justice), relating to rape and sex- 23 ual assault of a child. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1500 IS (9) An offense under section 920c of title 10, 1 United States Code (article 120c of the Uniform 2 Code of Military Justice), relating to other sexual 3 misconduct. 4 (10) An offense under section 925 of title 10, 5 United States Code (article 125 of the Uniform 6 Code of Military Justice), relating to kidnapping, if 7 the offense is committed in connection with family 8 abuse or other domestic violence. 9 (11) An offense under section 928 of title 10, 10 United States Code (article 128 of the Uniform 11 Code of Military Justice), relating to aggravated as- 12 sault, if the offense is committed in connection with 13 family abuse or other domestic violence. 14 (12) An offense under section 928a of title 10, 15 United States Code (article 128a of the Uniform 16 Code of Military Justice), relating to maiming, if the 17 offense is committed in connection with family abuse 18 or other domestic violence. 19 (13) An offense under section 928b of title 10, 20 United States Code (article 128b of the Uniform 21 Code of Military Justice), relating to domestic vio- 22 lence. 23 (14) An offense under section 930 of title 10, 24 United States Code (article 130 of the Uniform 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1500 IS Code of Military Justice), relating to stalking, if the 1 offense is committed in connection with family abuse 2 or other domestic violence. 3 (15) An offense under section 932 of title 10, 4 United States Code (article 132 of the Uniform 5 Code of Military Justice), relating to retaliation. 6 (16) An offense under section 934 of title 10, 7 United States Code (article 134 of the Uniform 8 Code of Military Justice), if the offense relates to 9 child pornography. 10 (17) An offense under section 934 of title 10, 11 United States Code (article 134 of the Uniform 12 Code of Military Justice), if the offense— 13 (A) relates to animal abuse; and 14 (B) is committed in connection with family 15 abuse or other domestic violence. 16 (18) An offense under section 934 of title 10, 17 United States Code (article 134 of the Uniform 18 Code of Military Justice), if the offense— 19 (A) relates to negligent homicide; and 20 (B) is committed in connection with family 21 abuse or other domestic violence. 22 (19) An attempt to commit an offense specified 23 in a paragraph (1) through (18) as punishable under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1500 IS section 880 of title 10, United States Code (article 1 80 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice). 2 (c) SCOPE OF DISPOSITION AUTHORITY WITH RE- 3 SPECT TO PARTICULAR OFFENSES.—The authority in 4 subsection (a) of an officer to make a disposition deter- 5 mination described in that subsection with respect to any 6 offense specified in subsection (b) extends to a determina- 7 tion of disposition with respect to any of the following: 8 (1) Any other offenses against the subject aris- 9 ing out of the incident in which the offense is alleged 10 to have occurred. 11 (2) Any reported offenses in connection with 12 misconduct of the victim, arising out of such inci- 13 dent. 14 (d) SCOPE OF DISPOSITION DETERMINATIONS.—Ex- 15 cept for an offense specified in section 818(c) of title 10, 16 United States Code (article 18(c) of the Uniform Code of 17 Military Justice), of which only general courts-martial 18 have jurisdiction, the disposition determinations permis- 19 sible in the exercise of the authority under this section 20 with respect to charges and specifications are as follows: 21 (1) No action. 22 (2) Administrative action. 23 (3) Imposition of non-judicial punishment. 24 (4) Preferral of charges. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1500 IS (5) If such charges and specifications were pre- 1 ferred from a subordinate, referral to court-martial 2 for trial. 3 (6) Forwarding to a superior or subordinate au- 4 thority for further disposition. 5 (e) REVIEW OF CERTAIN DISPOSITION DETERMINA- 6 TIONS.— 7 (1) INITIAL REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION.— 8 If a disposition determination under this section 9 with respect to an offense is for a disposition speci- 10 fied in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (d) 11 and the legal advisor to the officer making the dis- 12 position determination has recommended a disposi- 13 tion specified in paragraph (4), (5), or (6) of that 14 subsection, a Special Victim Prosecutor (SVP), Sen- 15 ior Trial Counsel (STC), or Regional Trial Counsel 16 (RTC) not in the chain of command of the officer 17 making the disposition determination shall— 18 (A) review the disposition determination; 19 and 20 (B) recommend to the staff judge advocate 21 in the chain of command whether to endorse or 22 supersede the disposition determination. 23 (2) SJA REVIEW AND ADVICE.—Upon comple- 24 tion of a review of a recommendation under para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1500 IS graph (1)(B), the staff judge advocate concerned 1 shall advise the next superior commander in the 2 chain of command of the officer making the original 3 disposition determination whether such disposition 4 determination should be endorsed or superseded. 5 (3) FINAL DISPOSITION DETERMINATION.— 6 After considering advice under paragraph (2) with 7 respect to an original disposition determination, the 8 superior commander concerned shall— 9 (A) make a new disposition determination 10 with respect to the offenses concerned; or 11 (B) endorse the original disposition deter- 12 mination for appropriate further action. 13 (f) TRAINING.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The training provided to 15 commissioned officers of the Armed Forces in grades 16 O–6 and above on the exercise of authority pursuant 17 to this section for determinations of the disposition 18 of an offense specified in subsection (b) shall include 19 specific training on such matters in connection with 20 sexual harassment, sexual assault, and family abuse 21 and domestic violence as the Secretary of Defense 22 considers appropriate to make informed disposition 23 determinations under such authority. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1500 IS (2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub- 1 section shall be construed to deprive a court-martial 2 of jurisdiction based on the level or amount of train- 3 ing received by the disposition authority pursuant to 4 this section. 5 (g) MANUAL FOR COURTS-MARTIAL.—The President 6 shall implement the requirement of this section into the 7 Manual for Courts-Martial in accordance with section 836 8 of title 10, United States Code (article 36 of the Uniform 9 Code of Military Justice). 10 SEC. 3. SPECIAL VICTIMS’ COUNSEL MATTERS. 11 (a) EXPANSION OF COVERED OFFENSES TO IN- 12 CLUDE ALLEGED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OFFENSES.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1044e of title 10, 14 United States Code, is amended— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘alleged sex-related of- 16 fense’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘al- 17 leged covered offense’’; and 18 (B) by striking subsection (g) and insert- 19 ing the following new subsection (g): 20 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 ‘‘(1) The term ‘alleged covered offense’ means 22 any of the following: 23 ‘‘(A) An alleged sex-related offense. 24 ‘‘(B) An alleged domestic violence offense. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1500 IS ‘‘(2) The term ‘alleged sex-related offense’ 1 means any allegation of— 2 ‘‘(A) a violation of section 920, 920b, 3 920c, or 930 of this title (article 120, 120b, 4 120c, or 130 of the Uniform Code of Military 5 Justice); or 6 ‘‘(B) an attempt to commit an offense 7 specified in a subparagraph (A) as punishable 8 under section 880 of this title (article 80 of the 9 Uniform Code of Military Justice). 10 ‘‘(3) The term ‘alleged domestic violence of- 11 fense’ means any allegation of— 12 ‘‘(A) a violation of section 928(b), 928b(1), 13 928b(5), or 930 of this title (article 128(b), 14 128b(1), 128b(5), or 130 of the Uniform Code 15 of Military Justice), when committed against a 16 spouse, intimate partner, or immediate family 17 member; 18 ‘‘(B) a violation of any other provision of 19 subchapter X of chapter 47 of this title (the 20 Uniform Code of Military Justice), when com- 21 mitted against a spouse, intimate partner, or 22 immediate family member, as specified by the 23 Secretary concerned for purposes of eligibility 24 for legal consultation and assistance by Special 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1500.IS S1500 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1500 IS Victims’ Counsel under the jurisdiction of such 1 Secretary under this section; or 2 ‘‘(C) an attempt to commit an offense 3 specified in a subparagraph (A) or (B) as pun- 4 ishable under section 880 of this title (article 5 80 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice).’’. 6 (2) CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMEND- 7 MENTS.— 8 (A) HEADING AMENDMENT.—The heading 9 of such section is amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘§ 1044e. Special Victims’ Counsel: victims of sex-re- 11 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]