To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize military judges and military magistrates to issue military court protective orders, and to direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a military-civilian task force on domestic violence and related information collection activities.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7789 To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize military judges and military magistrates to issue military court protective orders, and to direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a military-civilian task force on domestic violence and related information collection activities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 24, 2020 Ms. SPEIER (for herself and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize military judges and military magistrates to issue military court protective orders, and to direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a military-civilian task force on domestic violence and related information collection activities. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7789 IH SECTION 1. AUTHORITY OF MILITARY JUDGES AND MILI- 1 TARY MAGISTRATES TO ISSUE MILITARY 2 COURT PROTECTIVE ORDERS. 3 (a) JUDGE-ISSUED MILITARY COURT PROTECTIVE 4 ORDERS.—Chapter 80 of title 10, United States Code, is 5 amended by adding at the end the following new section. 6 ‘‘§ 1567b. Authority of military judges and military 7 magistrates to issue military court pro- 8 tective orders 9 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE MILITARY COURT PRO- 10 TECTIVE ORDERS.—The President shall prescribe regula- 11 tions authorizing military judges and military magistrates 12 to issue protective orders in accordance with this section. 13 A protective order issued in accordance with this section 14 shall be known as a ‘military court protective order’. 15 Under the regulations prescribed by the President, mili- 16 tary judges and military magistrates shall have exclusive 17 jurisdiction over the issuance, appeal, renewal, and termi- 18 nation of military court protective orders and such orders 19 may not be issued, appealed, renewed, or terminated by 20 State, local, territorial, or tribal courts. 21 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT BY CIVILIAN AUTHORITIES.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In prescribing regulations 23 for military court protective orders, the President 24 shall seek to ensure that the protective orders are 25 issued in a form and manner that is enforceable by 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7789 IH State, local, territorial, and tribal civilian law en- 1 forcement authorities. 2 ‘‘(2) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—Any military 3 court protective order, should be accorded full faith 4 and credit by the court of a State, local, territorial, 5 or tribal jurisdiction (the enforcing jurisdiction) and 6 enforced by the court and law enforcement personnel 7 of that jurisdiction as if it were the order of the en- 8 forcing jurisdiction. 9 ‘‘(3) RECIPROCITY AGREEMENTS.—Consistent 10 with paragraphs (1) and (2), the Secretary of De- 11 fense shall seek to enter into reciprocity agreements 12 with State, local, territorial, and tribal civilian law 13 enforcement authorities under which— 14 ‘‘(A) such authorities agree to enforce mili- 15 tary court protective orders; and 16 ‘‘(B) the Secretary agrees to enforce pro- 17 tective orders issued by such authorities that 18 are consistent with section 2265(b) of title 18. 19 ‘‘(c) PURPOSE AND FORM OF ISSUANCE.—A military 20 court protective order may be issued for the purpose of 21 protecting a victim of an alleged sex or domestic violence 22 offense, or a family member or associate of the victim, 23 from a person subject to chapter 47 of this title (the Uni- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7789 IH form Code of Military Justice) who is alleged to have com- 1 mitted such an offense. 2 ‘‘(d) TIMING AND MANNER OF ISSUANCE.—A mili- 3 tary court protective order may be issued— 4 ‘‘(1) by a military magistrate, before referral of 5 charges and specifications to court-martial for trial, 6 at the request of— 7 ‘‘(A) a victim of an alleged sex or domestic 8 violence offense; or 9 ‘‘(B) a Special Victims’ Counsel or other 10 qualified counsel acting on behalf of the victim; 11 or 12 ‘‘(2) by a military judge, after referral of 13 charges and specifications to court-martial for trial, 14 at the request of qualified counsel, which may in- 15 clude a Special Victims’ Counsel acting on behalf of 16 the victim or trial counsel acting on behalf of the 17 prosecution. 18 ‘‘(e) DURATION AND RENEWAL OF PROTECTIVE 19 ORDER.— 20 ‘‘(1) DURATION.—A military court protective 21 order shall be issued for an initial period of thirty 22 days and may be reissued for one or more additional 23 periods of thirty days in accordance with paragraph 24 (2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7789 IH ‘‘(2) EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.—Before the 1 expiration of any 30-day period during which a mili- 2 tary court protective order is in effect, a military 3 judge or military magistrate shall review the order 4 to determine whether the order will terminate at the 5 expiration of such period or be reissued for an addi- 6 tional period of 30 days. 7 ‘‘(3) NOTICE TO PROTECTED PERSONS.—If a 8 military judge or military magistrate determines 9 under paragraph (2) that a military court protective 10 order will terminate, the judge or magistrate con- 11 cerned shall provide to each person protected by the 12 order reasonable, timely, and accurate notification of 13 the termination. 14 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF MAGISTRATE-ISSUED ORDERS.— 15 ‘‘(1) REVIEW.—A military judge, at the request 16 of the person subject to a military court protective 17 order that was issued by a military magistrate, may 18 review the order to determine if the order was prop- 19 erly issued by the magistrate. 20 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS OF REVIEW.—A military 21 judge who reviews an order under paragraph (1) 22 shall terminate the order if the judge determines 23 that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7789 IH ‘‘(A) the military magistrate’s decision to 1 issue the order was an abuse of discretion, and 2 there is not sufficient information presented to 3 the military judge to justify the order; or 4 ‘‘(B) information not presented to the mili- 5 tary magistrate establishes that the military 6 court protective order should be terminated. 7 ‘‘(g) DUE PROCESS.— 8 ‘‘(1) PROTECTION OF DUE PROCESS.—Except 9 as provided in paragraph (2), a protective order au- 10 thorized under subsection (a) may be issued only 11 after reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard, 12 directly or through counsel, is given to the person 13 against whom the order is sought sufficient to pro- 14 tect that person’s right to due process. 15 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY ORDERS.—A protective order 16 on an emergency basis may be issued on an ex parte 17 basis under such rules and limitations as the Presi- 18 dent shall prescribe. In the case of ex parte orders, 19 notice and opportunity to be heard must be provided 20 within a reasonable time after the order is issued, 21 sufficient to protect the respondent’s due process 22 rights. 23 ‘‘(h) RIGHTS OF VICTIM.—The victim of an alleged 24 sex or domestic violence offense who seeks a military court 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7789 IH protective order has, in addition to any rights provided 1 under section 806b (article 6b), the following rights with 2 respect to any proceeding involving the protective order: 3 ‘‘(1) The right to reasonable, accurate, and 4 timely notice of the proceeding and of any change in 5 the status of the protective order resulting from the 6 proceeding. 7 ‘‘(2) The right to be reasonably heard at the 8 proceeding. 9 ‘‘(3) The right to appear in person, with or 10 without counsel, at the proceeding. 11 ‘‘(4) The right be represented by qualified 12 counsel in connection with the proceeding, which 13 may include a Special Victims’ Counsel. 14 ‘‘(5) The reasonable right to confer with a rep- 15 resentative of the command of the accused and 16 counsel representing the government at the pro- 17 ceeding, as applicable. 18 ‘‘(6) The right to submit a written statement, 19 directly or through counsel, for consideration by the 20 military judge or military magistrate presiding over 21 the proceeding. 22 ‘‘(i) RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS TO FIREARMS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 24 provision of law— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7789 IH ‘‘(A) a military court protective order 1 issued on an ex parte basis shall restrain a per- 2 son from possessing, receiving, or otherwise ac- 3 cessing a firearm; and 4 ‘‘(B) a military court protective order 5 issued after the person to be subject to the 6 order has received notice and opportunity to be 7 heard on the order, shall restrain such person 8 from possessing, receiving, or otherwise access- 9 ing a firearm in accordance with section 922 of 10 title 18. 11 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Not 12 later than 72 hours after the issuance of an order 13 described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense 14 shall submit to the Attorney General a record of the 15 order. 16 ‘‘(j) TREATMENT AS LAWFUL ORDER.—A military 17 court protective order shall be treated as a lawful order 18 for purposes of the application of section 892 (article 92) 19 and a violation of such an order shall be punishable under 20 such section (article). 21 ‘‘(k) COMMAND MATTERS.— 22 ‘‘(1) INCLUSION IN PERSONNEL FILE.—Any 23 military court protective order against a member 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7789 IH shall be placed and retained in the military per- 1 sonnel file of the member. 2 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CIVILIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT 3 OF ISSUANCE.—Any military court protective order 4 against a member shall be treated as a military pro- 5 tective order for purposes of section 1567a including 6 for purposes of mandatory notification of issuance to 7 civilian law enforcement as required by that section. 8 ‘‘(l) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUTHORITIES.— 9 Nothing in this section may be construed as prohibiting— 10 ‘‘(1) a commanding officer from issuing or en- 11 forcing any otherwise lawful order in the nature of 12 a protective order to or against members of the offi- 13 cer’s command; 14 ‘‘(2) pretrial restraint in accordance with Rule 15 for Courts-Martial 304 (as set forth in the Manual 16 for Courts-Martial, 2019 edition, or any successor 17 rule); or 18 ‘‘(3) pretrial confinement in accordance with 19 Rule for Courts-Martial 305 (as set forth in the 20 Manual for Courts-Martial, 2019 edition, or any suc- 21 cessor rule). 22 ‘‘(m) DELIVERY TO CERTAIN PERSONS.—A physical 23 and electronic copy of any military court protective order 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7789 IH shall be provided, as soon as practicable after issuance, 1 to the following: 2 ‘‘(1) The person or persons protected by the 3 protective order or to the guardian of such a person 4 if such person is under the age of 18 years. 5 ‘‘(2) The person subject to the protective order. 6 ‘‘(3) To such commanding officer in the chain 7 of command of the person subject to the protective 8 order as the President shall prescribe for purposes 9 of this section. 10 ‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 ‘‘(1) CONTACT.—The term ‘contact’ includes 12 contact in person or through a third party, or 13 through gifts. 14 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘communica- 15 tion’ includes communication in person or through a 16 third party, and by telephone or in writing by letter, 17 data fax, or other electronic means. 18 ‘‘(3) COVERED SEX OR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 19 OFFENSE.—The term ‘covered sex or domestic vio- 20 lence offense’ means— 21 ‘‘(A) an alleged sex-related offense (as de- 22 fined in section 1044e(h)); or 23 ‘‘(B) an alleged offense of domestic vio- 24 lence under section 928b of this title (article 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7789 IH 128b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) 1 or an attempt to commit such an offense that 2 is punishable under section 880 of this title (ar- 3 ticle 80 of the Uniform Code of Military Jus- 4 tice). 5 ‘‘(4) MILITARY JUDGE AND MILITARY MAG- 6 ISTRATE.—The terms ‘military judge’ and ‘military 7 magistrate’ mean a commissioned officer of the 8 armed forces who is a member of the bar of a Fed- 9 eral court or a member of the bar of the highest 10 court of a State and who is certified to be qualified, 11 by reason of education, training, experience, and ju- 12 dicial temperament, for duty as a military judge or 13 magistrate by the Judge Advocate General of the 14 armed force of which the officer is a member. 15 ‘‘(5) PROTECTIVE ORDER.—The term ‘protec- 16 tive order’ means an order that— 17 ‘‘(A) restrains a person from harassing, 18 stalking, threatening, or otherwise contacting or 19 communicating with a victim of an alleged sex 20 or domestic violence offense, or a family mem- 21 ber or associate of the victim, or engaging in 22 other conduct that would place such other per- 23 son in reasonable fear of bodily injury to any 24 such other person; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7789.IH H7789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7789 IH ‘‘(B) by its terms, explicitly prohibits— 1 ‘‘(i) the use, attempted use, or threat- 2 ened use of physical force by the person 3 against a victim of an alleged sex or do- 4 mestic violence offense, or a family mem- 5 ber or associate of the victim, that would 6 reasonably be expected to cause bodily in- 7 jury; 8 ‘‘(ii) the initiation by the person re- 9 strained of any contact or communication 10 with such other person; or 11 ‘‘(iii) actions described by [Text truncated for display. 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