Documentary claims "Court rules rape is an occupational hazard of military service"

[Delta4Embassy]

Watching the documentary "The Invisible War" I was pretty upset throughout, but it wasn't until the end I literally jumped off the sofa to google for the bit about how a court rejected rape victims' lawsuit ruling, "Rape is an occupational hazard of military service."

The Invisible War | Documentary about Rape in the U.S. Military | Independent Lens | PBS

Not surprisingly, the quote in the film was not the literal quote but a quote from film critic Roger Ebert reviewing the film here,

The Invisible War Movie Review (2012) | Roger Ebert

The actual court ruling is here,

http://www.caaflog.com/wp-content/uploads/Cioca-v.-Rumsfeld.pdf

an excerpt, "In the present case, the Plaintiffs sue the Defendants for their alleged failures with regard to oversight and policy setting within the military disciplinary structure. This is precisely the forum in which the Supreme Court has counseled against the exercise of judicial authority. Where the Supreme Court has so strongly advised against judicial involvement, not even the egregious allegations within Plaintiffs’ Complaint will prevent dismissal..., but the fact that congressionally uninvited intrusion into military affairs by the judiciary is inappropriate."

In other words, the Court ruled it's not in the Courts pervue to decide this case so is dismissing it altogether.

Though I found the rape victims in the documentary credible, misrepresenting the Court's ruling is tantamount to perjury. The documentary thus hurts the victims' cause by lying so plainly.

I don't doubt the claims made in the documentary, but I do question the accuracy when at least one major lie has been uncovered.

 

[waltky]

SPV protects military sexual assault victims...

New corps of military lawyers help rape victims
March 30, 2014 — As an Army general faced court-martial for sexual assault this month, a young military lawyer sat each day in the front row of the gallery, a few feet behind the prosecutors.

Unlike lawyers trying to win a criminal conviction against Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, Capt. Cassie L. Fowler's sole mission was to protect the woman at the center of the case — a young captain who said her commander twice forced her to perform oral sex and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about their three-year affair. Known as a Special Victims Counsel, or SVC for short, Fowler is part of a program started by the Pentagon last year following longstanding complaints that the military has too often treated those reporting rapes and sexual assaults as if they were the ones who did something wrong.

By providing independent attorneys, the military hopes the SCVs will help support victims become more resilient and navigate them through complex procedures within military justice system. In the months since the program was expanded to all military branches, the new corps of about 200 hand-picked and specially trained lawyers has represented hundreds of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen as their alleged abusers were investigated, tried and, in some cases, convicted.

Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army's top commander, has met with some of the sexual assault victims. "Here's the message I'm getting from them, 'the best thing we've done is the victim advocates,'" Odierno said earlier this month. "It's clear to me that the victims are feeling much more comfortable with these special victim advocates, and I'm dedicated to ensuring we carry out this program within the Army."

Among the early successes: An Air Force SVC representing a female airman successfully fought to remove a mark from the woman's service record placed there in retaliation for reporting her sexual assault. In another case, an SVC informed a commander that an officer overseeing an evidentiary hearing had acted improperly in recommending dismissing charges against the accused. The commander overruled the officer and sent the case to court-martial.

MORE

 

[Moonglow]

to bad she didn't bite of his dick during oral servicing....

 

[namvet]

maybe they should watch GI Jane first

 

[DGS49]

As long as politicians continue to use the military services as incubators where they can experiment with crackpot social theories it will continue to be a fucked up mess.

Every new initiative in the military should be evaluated according to one overriding criterion: Will it give us a better fighting force? Everything else is bullshit. The purpose of our military forces is to kill people and break things - sometimes to simply posture in a way that makes it clear that we are willing to kill people and break things.

Women in combat? Women serving on ships alongside sailors? Are you fucking serious? Is it any wonder why the biggest reason for women leaving the service is pregnancy? Who knew?

Pogo was right.

 

[whitehall]

Well duh, what does a moderately pretty female expect when she is thrown into a freaking soap opera serving for half a year on a US warship? The pregnancy rate in the US Navy is downplayed but it is staggering and the Navy is forced to train females for non critical jobs so they can quit when they become pregnant. What does a poor (male) Sailor do when his main squeeze yells rape when she becomes pregnant? The Navy loses two people.

 

[JakeStarkey]

As long as politicians continue to use the military services as incubators where they can experiment with crackpot social theories it will continue to be a fucked up mess.

Every new initiative in the military should be evaluated according to one overriding criterion: Will it give us a better fighting force? Everything else is bullshit. The purpose of our military forces is to kill people and break things - sometimes to simply posture in a way that makes it clear that we are willing to kill people and break things.

Women in combat? Women serving on ships alongside sailors? Are you fucking serious? Is it any wonder why the biggest reason for women leaving the service is pregnancy? Who knew?

Pogo was right.

Women serve just fine and soldiers who think like DGS49 need to be identified and either rifted or dismissed without benefits of any sort.