Their proposal seeks to address concerns from victims. | AP Photos Pols push military justice reform

A bipartisan Senate coalition opened up a new front in the military sexual assault debate on Tuesday, rolling out a fast-moving proposal that lines up a key part of the military criminal justice system with its civilian counterpart.

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are lead sponsors of the amendment that would overhaul the military’s pre-trial Article 32 process for sexual assault cases and other major military crimes.


Their proposal — which they plan to offer later this month on the floor as an amendment to the annual Defense authorization bill — seeks to address concerns from victims who have been put into the uncomfortable position of testifying under oath for hours with probing questions about their sexual habits, dress and behavior.

“The current system is a disaster,” Boxer told reporters. “The reason it’s a disaster is there’s no protection for the victim in that room at all.”

( PHOTOS: Key players in military sexual assault fight)

Under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a senior officer hears from the prosecution and defense to determine whether there’s enough evidence for defendants to face a full court-martial. Unlike a civilian proceeding, there are fewer restrictions on how military attorneys may conduct themselves.

Boxer and Graham’s bill would allow victims to opt out of testifying during the preliminary trial process and instead let them file sworn statements. It would require military courts to make a recording and transcript of the Article 32 hearing available to the victims’ lawyers and it limits questioning from defense lawyers to only items involving probable cause.

Victims’ advocates say the lack of restrictions under today’s World War II-era Article 32 can make victims feel as though they’re the ones on trial.

“Right now there’s no restrictions,” Boxer said. “You can go on a fishing expedition and you can do whatever you want and there’s no boundaries.”

The legislation also would require Article 32 hearings to include a presiding officer of equal or higher rank to the prosecutor or defense counsel, rather than the current set up allowing someone of lower rank to run the process.

The Boxer-Graham proposal does not address another pressing question before the Senate, offered by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), that would remove the chain of command from the entire decision-making process involving sexual assault cases or other major crimes. That plan, which the Pentagon opposes, has divided Senate Democrats and Republicans and appears a long shot for success winning 60 votes when it hits the floor in the coming weeks.

( Also on POLITICO: Sex assaults not scaring off recruits)

Cosponsors of the Boxer-Graham plan include several key GOP and Democratic senators who oppose Gillibrand’s amendment, including Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Also on board are Gillibrand and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Richard Blumethal (D-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

Boxer said she’s shared information about her proposal with Pentagon lawyers but hasn’t brought it to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel for his approval. The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

In an interview Monday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said he was open to the idea of reforming the Article 32 process but said there were some challenges in addressing the issue now since it didn’t come up through regular order in his panel.

“It looks to me at least at first blush like it’s a good amendment, but we’re trying to run through a bunch of traps to see if we are missing something,” the Michigan Democrat said.

“Article 32 has got to be changed,” Levin added. “Not just on sexual assault. It hasn’t been looked at for a long time. It’s got some real problems and hopefully we can make some changes in it, but they’ve got to be thoughtful changes.”

Eleanor Smeal, the president of Feminist Majority, said the Boxer-Graham proposal would address some of the critical issues that undercut the military justice system. She noted a lengthy Article 32 hearing earlier this year involving three Naval Academy midshipmen accused of sexually assaulting a classmate. There, the victim faced hours on the witness stand answering questions about her techniques for performing oral sex, as well as the outfit she was wearing the night of the incident.

Two of the three midshipmen will face court martial in February.

”These pretrial hearings are pretty disgraceful,” Smeal said. “It’s another way of wearing down the victim. And basically denying her even a trial if she reports.”

Smeal insisted that the Boxer-Graham proposal wouldn’t undercut support for the Gillibrand bill either, even if it looks like the latter faces challenges in making it into law.

“I don’t see it as an alternative,” she said. “I see it as more movement. We’re not going to give up on taking it out of the military command. But if we can get this pretrial thing changed and eliminated so that the victim isn’t put on trial without adequate protection twice, that would be a real victory.”