After Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen's death, Biden backs changes to military sex crime prosecutions
AUSTIN, Texas — President Joe Biden on Friday said he strongly supports Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III's push to remove the power of prosecution for military sex crimes and retaliation from the chain of command, a radical decision sparked by national outcry over the death of a Fort Hood soldier, Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, last year.
"Sexual assault is an abuse of power and an affront to our shared humanity," Biden said in a prepared statement Friday. "And sexual assault in the military is doubly damaging because it also shreds the unity and cohesion that is essential to the functioningof the U.S. military and to our national defense.
"Yet, for as long as we have abhorred this scourge, the statistics and the stories have grown worse. We need concrete actions that fundamentally change the way we handle military sexual assault and that make it clear that these crimes will not be minimized or dismissed," he continued.
Austin first shared his recommendation to remove prosecutions outside the chain of command in a letter to the Pentagon on Friday following the completion of a 90-day investigation, led by a team called the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, that he personally requested after being sworn into office in January.
Investigators following the 90-day commission told Austin that it was clear the military justice system was not equipped to properly respond to cases of sexual crimes, further recommending that all decisions about prosecution of special victim cases be removed from the chain of command. Austin agreed.
Austin's letter to the Pentagon also included that prosecution decisions also be removed from the chain of command for cases of domestic violence and child abuse.
The death of Guillen, whose remains were found one year ago this week after her slaying at Fort Hood on April 22, 2020, was the catalyst that encouraged hundreds of military members to come forward with their personal accounts of being sexually harassed and sexually assaulted within their ranks.
Guillen's case gained national attention during the months long search for her after the 20-year-old's family stated that she was being sexually harassed by multiple higher-ranking soldiers.
—Austin American-Statesman
State lawmakers pushing election reforms in wake of NYC's primary results fiasco
NEW YORK — Following the Board of Elections monumental primary results mix-up, New York state Sen. Liz Krueger is championing a bill that would “professionalize” the embattled agency.
The Manhattan Democrat is the lead sponsor of legislation that would modernize the leadership of the board, set training requirements and qualifications for employees and boost reporting and accountability measures.
“At the Board of Elections we’re still dealing with a 19th-century model of patronage where 10 unelected commissioners are appointed by party bosses,” Krueger said during an appearance Friday on WNYC.
The bill, introduced earlier this year, was not voted on before the end of the legislative session in June.
While the Legislature is not expected to return to Albany until January, the Board’s misreporting of results in the Democratic mayoral primary earlier this week has renewed interest in the legislation.
The Board of Elections is facing a firestorm of criticism after publishing and then rescinding mayoral primary results Tuesday after admitting staffers accidentally included 135,000 test ballots in the numbers.
—New York Daily News
Most Americans favor voter ID laws, poll finds
A majority of Americans, regardless of political affiliation or race, agree that people should have to show photo identification when voting, recent polling found.
On this issue, state lawmakers are largely divided along party lines, with Republicans claiming voter ID laws help bolster election security and Democrats arguing the requirement is too restrictive. But a new survey, conducted by NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist in late June, backs up other research showing there is actually broad public support for such measures.
Overall, the poll found that nearly eight in 10 Americans favor requiring government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot. This policy was most popular among Republicans (94%) and independents (83%), but a majority of Democrats (57%) also indicated support.
Voter ID laws were also found to be popular among both white people (78%) and people of color (81%).
Additionally, there was consensus that American democracy is in dire straits. Two-thirds of Americans said they felt democracy in the United States was "under threat," rather than "alive and well."
—The Fulcrum
Kremlin: Putin, Macron pledge to improve Russian-European relations
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron plan to improve relations between Russia and Europe, the Kremlin said on Friday after a telephone call between the two leaders.
Working on pressing issues such as cybersecurity, combating global terrorism and environmental protection could bring about a return to what the Kremlin described as "normal and respectful dialogue."
Of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the two leaders said they were ready for further talks to implement the goals of the Minsk peace plan of 2015.
Moscow accused Kiev of sabotaging earlier ceasefires.
Relations between Europe and Russia have become strained for reasons beyond war-torn eastern Ukraine, where peace efforts have stalled and fighting continues between government troops and Russian-backed separatist rebels after seven years. More than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to U.N. estimates.
Further areas of disagreement include Russia's treatment of jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the dispute over Belarus where protests have raged for nearly a year after disputed elections and the poisoning of a former spy in Britain, among others.
—dpa
