Mazie Hirono speaking in support of MJIA

Senate Bill 1752, more commonly known as the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA), was introduced by U.S. Senator

Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as member of the U.S. House of ...

(D-N.Y.) in 2013 as an attempt to reform procedures for determinations to proceed to trial by court-martial for certain offenses under the

Uniform Code of Military Justice The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 801–946 is the foundation of military law in the United States. It was established by the United States Congress in accordance with the authority given by the United States Constitutio ...

and for other purposes. The focus of the bill is to address the way that

sexual assault in the United States military Sexual assault in the United States armed forces is an ongoing issue which has received extensive media coverage in the past. A 2012 Pentagon survey found that approximately 26,000 women and men were sexually assaulted that year; of those, onl ...

is handled through the military justice system and the

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

. The bill has been criticized as potentially leading to a decrease in sexual assault prosecutions and in the protections offered to alleged victims of sexual assault. A similar bill that keeps Commanders in charge has been championed by Senator

Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She g ...

, D-Missouri. Although Senator Gillibrand has been working (with bi-partisan support) to get this bill passed since 2014, it continues to be stalled in the Senate. In 2019, it was not even allowed on the floor to be debated. As of July 2020, Gillibrand has stated they will offer this bill attached to the NDAA for 2021.

References

United States military law {{US-law-stub