America's top military officers are likely to advise Congress not to go too far overhauling the U.S. military's justice system to address the problem of sexual assault when they testify at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, and top officers from each branch of the military will comment on legislation meant to stem a rise in sexual assault cases.
According to letters sent to the committee, and obtained by Reuters, top brass supported some important curbs but appeared concerned about taking away too much power from commanders.
One measure they are likely to balk at is Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's proposal to take responsibility for prosecuting sex crimes out of the victim's chain of command altogether and give it to special prosecutors.
"Victims need to know that their commander holds offenders accountable, not some unknown third-party prosecutor," wrote General James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, in his letter dated May 17.
A study the Defense Department released in May estimated that cases of unwanted sexual contact in the military, from groping to rape, rose 37 percent in 2012, to about 26,000 cases from 19,000 the previous year.
There has been outcry in Congress over how the military handles such cases, including those in which commanders showed leniency to accused offenders.
In one high-profile case, a senior U.S. military commander in Europe set aside the sexual assault conviction of an Air Force officer, throwing out his one-year prison term and dismissal from the service.
That outrage has led lawmakers to put together legislation that, in some cases, commanders think goes too far. It was not clear whether words of caution from top brass at the hearing will prompt lawmakers to reverse course.
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