Global Courant 2023-05-31 17:36:58
Lawmakers are planning to consider a package of legislation that would tighten the ban on sexual assault within the Wisconsin National Guard after a damning federal report found that commanders flouted federal requirements for handling complaints for years.
A study committee made up of lawmakers, prosecutors and military veterans began work last summer on legislation to tighten oversight of sexual assault complaints within the Wisconsin National Guard. The state assembly’s military affairs committee was set to begin the floor vote process with a public hearing on the bills Wednesday morning.
The proposals come after the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C. released a blistering report in December 2019 finding that between 2009 and 2019, Wisconsin National Guard commanders improperly kept sexual assault complaints to themselves rather than forwarding them to the National Bureau of Investigation. Wisconsin National Guard commander Major General Donald Dunbar resigned just as the report was released.
Sexual misconduct has long been a problem within the US military. The Department of Defense received 8,942 reports of sexual assault in fiscal year 2022, an increase of about 0.8% from the 8,866 reports it received in 2021 and 14% from the 7,816 reports tracked in 2020, according to the Ministry’s reports on sexual assault.
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Dunbar’s resignation was the culmination of a months-long investigation into sexual assaults within the Wisconsin National Guard.
The investigation began after U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin received complaints in 2018 from Wisconsin Air National Guard Master Sgt. Jay Ellis on senior officers doing little to address sexual harassment and assault complaints within the 115th Fighter Wing’s security squadron, dating back to 2002.
Baldwin asked the US Air Force Office of Special Investigations to investigate Ellis’ allegations. The National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations eventually agreed to investigate the matter. The agency released its findings in December 2019.
Wisconsin National Guard troops arrive at the Kenosha County Courthouse on August 30, 2020. Lawmakers will consider legislation that would tighten the prohibition of sexual assault within the Wisconsin National Guard. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
The report found that commanders launched internal investigations rather than referring complaints to local police and the national bureau as required by Defense Department regulations. They also used poorly trained detectives who sometimes posed as desk detectives, failed to track complaints or enter them into a Department of Defense database, and failed to note substantiated sex offenses in the offenders’ evaluation reports, the report said. .
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Dunbar resigned at the request of Governor Tony Evers hours before the report was released to the media.
Wisconsin law allows the legislature’s attorneys to create committees in even-numbered years to study pressing issues and recommend legislation. Following media coverage of Dunbar’s resignation, they formed a committee in July 2022 to study sexual misconduct in the Wisconsin National Guard. Members included legislators from both parties, prosecutors from Ozaukee and Clark counties, and military veterans.
The legislation the study commission developed would clarify that civilian authorities have primary authority to prosecute assault, sexual misconduct and other crimes committed by members of the Wisconsin National Guard.
It would also adopt provisions from the Uniform Code of Military Justice that prohibit officers and recruiters from engaging in prohibited sexual activity with soldiers they are training or applicants for military service. Consent would not be a viable legal defense.
Sexual harassment and retaliation against complainants would be prohibited. The Guard should publish a policy online that ensures that victims are treated with respect and dignity.
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Commanders would be required to file annual reports with the governor and legislature detailing the number of sexual assault and misconduct cases within the Wisconsin National Guard during the previous year. They should also build a database to track instances of misconduct.
Ellis said in an email to The Associated Press that he has retired from the military and moved to Texas. He said some of his fellow veterans from his unit still refuse to speak to him and he is trying to put the whole experience behind him. He said the new bills look like “well-intentioned change” but “implementation will be the real test”.
