I represent survivors of military sexual assault, and the Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act (Shaheen-Kennedy) is one of the most important legal reforms seen in years.
For 75 years, the Feres doctrine has blocked service members from suing the government for injuries "incident to service," including sexual assault. Even Justice Clarence Thomas has criticized this doctrine. In a 2021 dissent involving an alleged sexual assault at West Point, he argued the Court should "bid the Feres doctrine farewell." It's still standing.
Congress has a significant track record here. Special Victims' Counsel — the attorneys who represent survivors through the military justice process — were built out first by a memo by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on August 13, 2013, and then through the NDAA across multiple years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2022), each time expanding protections. This bill is the next step in that same progress.
Contact your senators and ask them to cosponsor this bill and push for standalone passage. If it does not look like this will happen, ask them to fight to include it in the FY2027 NDAA. Find yours at senate.gov/senators.
As John Maxwell said, "Opportunities never look as good coming as they do going, and they wait for no one." This bill is in front of Congress right now — don't let it go.
— Ruth
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