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Uploaded: Saturday, September 29, 2012, 9:38 AM
Updated: Monday, October 1, 2012, 5:27 AM
19 veterans sue government leaders for failing to protect them against rape, sexual assaults
'Victims are put on trial and told they have asked to be raped,' San Mateo congresswoman charges
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Lawyers for 19 veterans of the U.S. Army and Air Force filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco yesterday alleging that top government officials failed to protect them against rape and sexual assaults while they were on active duty.
"The military system is inherently biased," said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, who attended the morning news conference announcing the suit at UC Hastings College of the Law at 200 McAllister St.
"Victims are put on trial and told they have asked to be raped," she said.
The victims bringing the suit, from a dozen states, allege that by failing to protect them from assaults, the defendants, including Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the secretaries of the U.S. Army and Navy, violated their constitutional rights to due process of law and equal protection.
Two of the plaintiffs, Daniele Hoffman and Kole Welsh, both Army veterans, became emotional during the news conference when they described their feelings as victims of rape while in the service.
"I've been alone and silenced, but I won't be silenced any more," said Hoffman, who had attempted suicide after she was sexually assaulted nine years ago while in the Illinois National Guard and then suffered "continually" from harassment while serving in Iraq from 2007 to 2008.
"Let me be clear -- the federal judiciary is actively condoning" the rapes of members of military, said Welsh, who claimed that Army officials avoided prosecuting a sergeant who was "raping other male soldiers in order to give them HIV."
Welsh said he blamed the lack of action on military sexual assaults on the federal judiciary system, and that that under current law and
military regulations, perpetrators of sexual assaults know that they "could not be sued or held criminally liable" for their crimes.
Susan Burke, the lead council for the plaintiffs in the suit filed, said that military leaders were made defendants because the plaintiffs were denied access to fair judicial review and the military permitted retaliation against victims.
Judges hearing such cases generally have been protective of the military, which has won cases arguing that sexual assaults qualify as "a hazard of duty" to be endured legally by people in the armed forces, Burke said.— Bay City News Service Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Shaira_angels143, a resident of the California Somerset neighborhood, on Oct 4, 2012 at 12:27 pm Overnight crime would be dealt a shattering blow. We suffer to walk the unsafe streets. Until I ask my self that we should give it some thought. To prioritize our safety, I heard this from a friend about this mobile phone safety where in they can track us through precise private GPS location. Whenever it happens that we may go through danger zone places, they will keep us aware through the Threat Level feature that they have. For we wouldn't know any dangerous type of human beings might be around our parameters. Now a days to be aware is to be a live. You can never trust anybody. Therefore I've registered this safety application through this link: Web Link
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Oct 4, 2012 at 8:28 pm Good Luck in your struggle to protect women from rape.
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Posted by liberalism is a disease, a resident of the Birdland neighborhood, on Oct 5, 2012 at 8:50 am
liberalism is a disease is a member (registered user) of PleasantonWeekly.com "Let me be clear -- the federal judiciary is actively condoning" the rapes of members of military, said Welsh, who claimed that Army officials avoided prosecuting a sergeant who was "raping other male soldiers in order to give them HIV."
How could obama allow this to continue under his watch? It's not like he ignored the pleas of high ranking military leaders that allowing gays to serve openly would deteriorate the ranks. He would never think to jeopardize our troops health and morale by pandering to the vocal gay minority, right?
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Posted by dublinmike, a resident of Dublin, on Oct 8, 2012 at 10:23 am
dublinmike is a member (registered user) of PleasantonWeekly.com liberalism is a disease, give it a rest. This kind of activity has been going on for decades and under the nose of law & order Republican presidents. It's heinous and should not be tolerated.
We know your agenda. President Obama could solve the common cold and you would complain that he hasn't found a cure for cancer. He could cure cancer and you would complain that he hasn't found a way to cure something else.
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Nov 23, 2012 at 4:24 pm It's my impression that MOST AMERICANS are not particularly concerned with the rape of innocent American citizens - women, children, or men.
It's also my impression that the rape of innocent American citizens is on the rise. There seem to be thousands upon thousands of innocent citizens that have been raped by trusted clergy of all faiths. More often than not, it is innocent children who have been raped and finally after many many years, they are reporting it to authorities. In some instances, the rapists have died, but in many of the rapes, the rapist is still alive and going about his/her business as usual. It's true that many many men and women have been raped by fellow servicemen/women. Rarely reported.
I don't believe that the issue is about Democrat v Republican and who has raped the most and gotten away with a crime. All citizens have a right to be safe but unfortunately, that is not the case. I've written letters to Senators Feinstein and Boxer, the First Lady, President Obama, The Vice-President, Republican leadership in both houses and have received form letters that boast of all that they have done to protect fellow American citizens against sexual predators. In short, it has been a waste of time. I did receive one personal hand written note from one Senator from New York. Senator Brown is the only one who wrote a note that made sense.
What do American citizens have to do to protect their children from adult sexual predators? Don't ever assume that you, your children, or your communities will ever be safe. It's my impression that Americans are not particularly concerned about the safety of their fellow citizens, especially the most vulnerable amongst us, our children.
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