U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill used a Senate hearing to call into question the authority of commanders to dismiss charges against convicted offenders

The Missouri Democrat specifically targeted the actions of an Air Force general who overturned the trial of an officer convicted of sexual assault—allowing the officer to be released and put in line for promotion, with a clean record, only months after entering jail.

 

In a subsequent letter to the two highest officials in the Air Force, McCaskill called for the actions of the General to be reviewed and for disciplinary measures to be considered.

“The military needs to understand that this could be a tipping point,” said McCaskill, a former Jackson County Prosecutor and a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I question whether, after this incident, there’s any chance a woman assaulted in that unit would ever say a word. There’s a culture issue that’s going to have to be addressed here. And what this decision did—all it did was underline and put an exclamation point behind the notion that if you are sexually assaulted in the military—good luck.”

Air Force Lt. Col. James Wilkerson was convicted of sexual assault, and sentenced to a year in prison following a military trial. 3rd Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, reportedly against the advice of legal counsel, subsequently used his command authority to dismiss the charges against Wilkerson, which led Wilkerson to be released, and his record expunged of any wrongdoing. This set the stage for Wilkerson’s immediate reinstatement and eligibility for promotion.