Military Criminal Defense Lawyer (Former JAG
Attorney) News:
Take note Congress and the Military…a
prominent, intelligent, accomplished, professional woman, and mother,
recognizes that, particularly in the context of alcohol, a young man can be
FALSELY accused of rape and/or sexual assault!
And, she offers some very smart advice: Get a confirmation text from the woman showing
that she agrees to have sex before proceeding.
Smart advice, but, at the same time, very sad that we are in a time
where young men have to resort to written sex contracts in order to protect themselves
from criminal allegations.
Roxanne
Jones is a founding editor of “ESPN The Magazine” and a former vice president
at ESPN. She is a national lecturer on sports, entertainment and women's topics
and a recipient of the 2010 Woman of the Year award from Women in Sports and
Events. Her insightful CNN editorial can
be found here:
In
her editorial, she makes excellent points that are so true for our young
military men. She states:
“It seems nearly every week, we hear news
stories about sexual encounters at parties where everyone is drinking -- and a
young woman says she was raped, and a young man insists the encounter was
consensual.”
“…too often when heavy drinking is involved,
the meaning of consent can be misconstrued on both sides.”
(When sending her son off to college) “In my
case, I filled my son's duffel bag with about 300 condoms and told him watch
out for party girls.”
“Never have sex with a girl unless she's sent
you a text that proves the sexual relationship is consensual beforehand. And
it's a good idea to even follow up any sexual encounter with a tasteful text
message saying how you both enjoyed being with one another -- even if you never
plan on hooking up again.”
“Parents need to step up. I'm doing my
part, raising a son to respect women and himself by talking to him about how to
navigate the freedom that comes with college life…But we need to do more work
to teach our daughters that women also have an equal personal responsibility to
respect their bodies. And true equality means that we are also held accountable
for our actions.”
While hers wasn't an editorial about the military justice system, Ms. Jones' points certainly apply to the military, where rape and sexual assault allegations
(UCMJ Article 120) arising from young adults engaging in alcohol fueled sexual
encounters are pouring in – particularly because military populations continue
to be incorrectly briefed that a woman cannot consent to sex if she has been
drinking (without explaining the legal and cognitive nuances that an
intoxicated person CAN consent to sex, unless that person is “substantially
incapacitated” and, therefore, unable to understand and consent).
The military continues to teach the opposite
of what Ms. Jones says: “Women should be
accountable for their actions.” Instead,
the military preaches no accountability.
If a military woman drinks alcohol and drives a car, the military has no
problem holding her accountable. But, if
she drinks alcohol and has sex with a guy, the military tells her she has no
accountability and is automatically a victim.
So, when morning after regrets occur, those briefings feed into the
psychological gears turning a regrettable hookup into a rape/sexual assault
court-martial trial.
In fact, when Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark
Welsh testified to Congress that increased military allegations of rape and
sexual assault could be contributed to by a “hook up culture,” he was forced to go on a
public apology tour to appease the zealots who bristle at the suggestion that a
rape/sexual assault allegation could be anything but clear cut. Reason and common sense have long since been
abandoned when it comes to allegations of rape and sexual assault in the
military. Instead of frank and mature discussions
about alcohol and sex and consent, the military has resorted to the extreme
message to cater to the PR machine: alcohol
+ sex = rape…
…even though that’s NOT the legal or mental
reality of the situation.
In this oppressive military justice
environment, the pressure to convict our young military men, send them to
prison, and destroy their futures is coming from the very top of our
government. I encourage all young men in the military to take Ms.
Jones’ advice and, at least, get confirmation texts.
For other blog posts on this topic, please
enter “rape” or “sexual assault” in the search box above.
Please contact us by:
By: Attorney Richard
V. Stevens
Civilian criminal defense lawyer and military defense lawyer
Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, PC
http://www.militaryadvocate.com
Civilian criminal defense lawyer and military defense lawyer
Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, PC
http://www.militaryadvocate.com
Blog postscript: Defense attorney Frank
Spinner and defense attorney Richard Stevens are civilian court-martial defense
lawyers and former active duty military defense lawyers (JAG). The
perspectives in this blog, therefore, are based on their experience as military
defense attorneys and as civilian criminal defense lawyers practicing
exclusively in the area of military law. This blog addresses issues in
military law, military justice, military discipline, military trial defense and
appellate defense, court-martial defense practice, the Uniform Code of Military
Justice (UCMJ) and other military and/or legal topics. Nothing posted in
this blog should be substituted for legal advice in any particular case.
If you seek legal advice for a particular case, please contact the Military
Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens and the Law Office of Frank Spinner
for a free initial consultation. Our military defense law offices are located
in Northern Florida (Pensacola, Ft Walton, Destin, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field,
Duke Field areas) and Colorado Springs, Colorado respectively, but our military
defense law practices are worldwide – we travel to wherever our clients are
stationed or need us.
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