US Congress Senate Bill 967 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 32-6-1)
Status: Introduced on May 16 2013 - 25% progression, died in chamber
Action: 2013-06-04 - Committee on Armed Services. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-320.
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), with respect to charges that allege an offense triable by court-martial (with certain exclusions) for which the maximum punishment includes confinement for more than one year, to direct the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to require the Secretaries of the military departments to provide for the determination of whether to try such charges by general or special court-martial to be made by a commissioned officer of grade O-6 or higher with significant experience in such trials and who is outside the chain of command of the accused. Provides that a determination not to proceed to trial shall not preclude a commanding officer from either referring such charges for trial by summary court-martial or imposing non-judicial punishment. Requires Rule 306 (relating to policy on initial disposition of offenses) of the Manual for Courts-Martial to be amended to strike the character and military service of the accused from factors to be considered by the disposition authority. Revises the list of officers authorized to convene general and special courts-martial to include those in grade O-6 or higher assigned such responsibility by their department chief of staff (with the same prohibition against an officer in the same chain of command as the accused). Requires each chief of staff to establish an office which shall convene general and special courts-martial and detail judges and members. Requires a military judge to call a general or special court-martial trial into session within 90 days of the determination of its necessity. Requires a convening authority (the official acting on the sentence of a court-martial), when taking any action other than approving a sentence, to prepare a written justification of such action which shall be made part of the record of the court-martial. Prohibits a convening authority from: (1) dismissing or setting aside a finding of guilty, or (2) reducing a finding of guilty to a finding of guilty to a lesser included offense. Requires a commanding officer who receives a report of a sexual-related offense involving a member in such officer's chain of command to act immediately upon such report by way of referral to the appropriate criminal investigative office or service. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 to require an independent panel established by the DOD Secretary to monitor and assess the implementation and efficacy of this Act and its amendments.

Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]	Sen. Tammy Baldwin [D-WI]	Sen. Mark Begich [D-AK]	Sen. Michael Bennet [D-CO]
Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]	Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA]	Sen. Maria Cantwell [D-WA]	Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]
Sen. Thomas Carper [D-DE]	Sen. Robert Casey [D-PA]	Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]	Sen. Christopher Coons [D-DE]
Sen. William Cowan [D-MA]	Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]	Sen. Al Franken [D-MN]	Sen. Chuck Grassley [R-IA]
Sen. Tom Harkin [D-IA]	Sen. Martin Heinrich [D-NM]	Sen. Heidi Heitkamp [D-ND]	Sen. Mazie Hirono [D-HI]
Sen. Mike Johanns [R-NE]	Sen. Tim Johnson [D-SD]	Sen. Mark Kirk [R-IL]	Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
Sen. Edward Markey [D-MA]	Sen. Robert Menendez [D-NJ]	Sen. Jeff Merkley [D-OR]	Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D-MD]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]	Sen. Mark Pryor [D-AR]	Sen. John Rockefeller [D-WV]	Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT]
Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI]	Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]	Sen. Jeanne Shaheen [D-NH]	Sen. Tom Udall [D-NM]
Sen. David Vitter [R-LA]	Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-MA]	Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR]

Date	Chamber	Action
2013-06-04	Senate	Committee on Armed Services. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-320.
2013-05-16	Senate	Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

HB2016 (Same As) 2013-06-20 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
SB538 (Related) 2013-06-04 - Committee on Armed Services. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-320.
SB1752 (Related) 2014-03-06 - Returned to the Calendar. Calendar No. 251. (consideration: CR S1349)
SB2970 (Related) 2014-12-03 - Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 611.
SB2992 (Related) 2014-12-10 - Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 644.

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/967/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/113/bills/s967/BILLS-113s967is.pdf