Military Justice Oversight and Refinement Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7060 To improve the military justice system, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2020 Mr. TURNER (for himself and Mrs. DAVIS of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To improve the military justice system, 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 Justice Over- 4 sight and Refinement Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. BRIEFING ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MILITARY 6 JUSTICE REFORM. 7 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 8 ment of this Act, the Judge Advocates General of the 9 Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard, and 10 the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Ma- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7060 IH rine Corps shall each provide to the Committee on Armed 1 Services of the House of Representatives a briefing on the 2 results on the review and assessment conducted under sec- 3 tion 946(f)(1) of title 10, United States Code (article 4 146(f)(1) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice). Each 5 briefing shall include recommendations for improvements 6 to the Uniform Code of Military Justice based on the re- 7 sults of such review and assessment. 8 SEC. 3. BRIEFING SPECIAL VICTIMS’ COUNSEL PROGRAM. 9 (a) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Judge Ad- 11 vocates General of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, 12 and the Coast Guard, and the Staff Judge Advocate to 13 the Commandant of the Marine Corps shall each provide 14 to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the 15 status of the Special Victims’ Counsel program of the 16 Armed Force concerned. 17 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each briefing under subsection (a) 18 shall include, with respect to the Special Victims’ Counsel 19 program of the Armed Force concerned, the following: 20 (1) An assessment of whether the Armed Force 21 is in compliance with the provisions of the National 22 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 re- 23 lating to the Special Victims’ Counsel program and, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7060 IH if not, what steps have been taken to achieve compli- 1 ance with such provisions. 2 (2) An estimate of the average caseload of each 3 Special Victims’ Counsel. 4 (3) A description of any staffing shortfalls in 5 the Special Victims’ Counsel program or other pro- 6 grams of the Armed Force resulting from the addi- 7 tional responsibilities required of the Special Vic- 8 tims’ Counsel program under the National Defense 9 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. 10 (4) An explanation of the ability of Special Vic- 11 tims’ Counsel to adhere to requirement that a coun- 12 sel respond to a request for services within 72 hours 13 of receiving such request. 14 (5) An assessment of the feasibility of providing 15 cross-service Special Victims’ Counsel representation 16 in instances where a Special Victims’ Counsel from 17 a different Armed Force is co-located with a victim 18 at a remote base. 19 SEC. 4. POLICY ON SEPARATION OF VICTIM AND ACCUSED 20 AT MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMIES. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall, 22 in consultation with the Secretaries of the military depart- 23 ments and the Superintendent of each military service 24 academy, prescribe in regulations a policy under which as- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7060 IH sociation between a cadet or midshipman of a military 1 service academy who is the alleged victim of a sexual as- 2 sault and the accused is minimized while both parties com- 3 plete their course of study at the academy. 4 (b) ELEMENTS.—The Secretary of Defense shall en- 5 sure that the policy developed under subsection (a)— 6 (1) is fair to the both the alleged victim and the 7 accused; and 8 (2) provides for the confidentiality of the par- 9 ties involved. 10 (c) MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMY DEFINED.—The 11 term ‘‘military service academy’’ means the following: 12 (1) The United States Military Academy. 13 (2) The United States Naval Academy. 14 (3) The United States Air Force Academy. 15 (4) The United States Coast Guard Academy. 16 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF REPORTING AND DATA COLLEC- 17 TION ON VICTIMS OF SEXUAL OFFENSES. 18 Section 547 of the John S. McCain National Defense 19 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115– 20 232; 10 U.S.C. 1561 note) is amended— 21 (1) in subsection (a)— 22 (A) in paragraph (1)— 23 (i) by striking ‘‘accused of’’ and in- 24 serting ‘‘suspected of’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7060 IH (ii) by striking ‘‘assault’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘offense’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘accused 3 of’’ and inserting ‘‘suspected of’’; and 4 (C) in paragraph (3)— 5 (i) by striking ‘‘assaults’’ and insert- 6 ing ‘‘offenses’’; and 7 (ii) by striking ‘‘an accusation’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘suspicion of’’; 9 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 10 section (c); 11 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 12 lowing new subsection: 13 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of De- 14 fense shall issue guidance to ensure the uniformity of the 15 data collected by each Armed Force for purposes of sub- 16 section (a). At a minimum, such guidance shall estab- 17 lish— 18 ‘‘(1) standardized methods for the collection of 19 the data required to be reported under such sub- 20 section; and 21 ‘‘(2) standardized definitions for the terms ‘sex- 22 ual offense’, ‘collateral misconduct’, and ‘adverse ac- 23 tion’.’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7060 IH (4) by amending subsection (c), as so redesig- 1 nated, to read as follows: 2 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered individual’ means an in- 4 dividual who is identified in the case files of a mili- 5 tary criminal investigative organization as a victim 6 of a sexual offense that occurred while that indi- 7 vidual was serving on active duty as a member of 8 the Armed Forces. 9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘suspected of’, when used with 10 respect to a covered individual suspected of collateral 11 misconduct or crimes as described in subsection (a), 12 means that an investigation by a military criminal 13 investigative organization reveals facts and cir- 14 cumstances that would lead a reasonable person to 15 believe that the individual committed an offense 16 under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code 17 (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).’’. 18 SEC. 6. GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM FOR MINOR DE- 19 PENDENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 20 FORCES. 21 Section 540L(b)(1) of the National Defense Author- 22 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 133 23 Stat. 1373) is amended by adding before the period at 24 the end the following: ‘‘, including an assessment of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7060 IH feasibility and advisability of establishing a guardian ad 1 litem program for military dependents living outside the 2 United States’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS