Equal Justice Under Military Law Act
Bill: H.R.7445 | Sponsor: Rep. Brown, Anthony G. (D-MD)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Equal Justice Under Military Law Act
This bill modifies various provisions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including to establish an independent convening authority for general and special courts-martial for certain offenses (e.g., murder or manslaughter).

To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to establish an 
 independent convening authority for certain offenses, randomize jury 
selection, and improve reporting on racial and ethnic demographics, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This act may be cited as the ``Equal Justice Under Military Law 
Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO COVERED OFFENSES UNDER UNIFORM CODE OF 
              MILITARY JUSTICE.

    (a) In General.--Section 801(17)(A) of title 10, United States Code 
(article 1(17)(A) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), as amended 
by section 533 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81), is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``, section 921 (article 121), section 
        921a (article 121a), section 922 (article 122)'' after 
        ``(article 120c)''; and
            (2) by inserting ``, section 926 (article 126), section 
        928(b) (article 128(b)), section 928(c) (article 128(c))'' 
        after ``(article 125)''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect immediately after the coming into effect of the amendments 
made by section 533 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81) as provided in section 539C of 
that Act.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENT CONVENING AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN 
              OFFENSES.

    (a) General Courts-Martial.--Section 822 of title 10, United States 
Code (article 22 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``General courts-martial 
        may be convened by'' and inserting ``Subject to subsection (c), 
        general courts-martial may be convened by''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) A general court-martial involving a covered offense may be 
convened only by the independent convening authority designated by the 
President pursuant to section 3(d) of the Equal Justice Under Military 
Law Act.''.
    (b) Special Courts-Martial.--Section 823 of title 10, United States 
Code (article 23 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``Special courts-martial 
        may be convened by'' and inserting ``Subject to subsection (c), 
        special courts-martial may be convened by''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) A special court-martial involving a covered offense may be 
convened only by the independent convening authority designated by the 
President pursuant to section 3(d) of the Equal Justice Under Military 
Law Act.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall take effect immediately after the coming into effect of the 
amendments made by part 1 of title V of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81) as provided 
in section 539C of that Act.
    (d) Designation of Independent Authority.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than the effective date 
        specified in subsection (c), the President shall designate an 
        independent convening authority who shall have exclusive 
        authority for convening general and special courts-martial 
        involving covered offenses in accordance with sections 822(c) 
        and 823(c) of title 10, United States Code (articles 22(c) and 
        23(c) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), as added by 
        subsection (a). An independent convening authority designated 
        under this subsection shall be an individual who is independent 
        of the military chains of command of both the victims and those 
        accused of covered offenses, and may include a special trial 
        counsel.
            (2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) The term ``covered offense'' has the meaning 
                given that term in section 801(17) of title 10, United 
                States Code (article 1(17) of the Uniform Code of 
                Military Justice), as added by section 533 of the 
                National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 
                (Public Law 117-81) and further amended by section 2 of 
                this Act.
                    (B) The term ``special trial counsel'' has the 
                meaning given that term in section 801(18) of title 10, 
                United States Code (article 1(18) of the Uniform Code 
                of Military Justice), as added by section 533 of the 
                National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 
                (Public Law 117-81).
    (e) Conforming Amendment.--Title V of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81) is amended 
by striking section 534.

SEC. 4. SELECTION PROCESS FOR MEMBERS TO SERVE ON COURTS-MARTIAL.

    Section 825(e) of title 10, United States Code (article 25(e) of 
the Uniform Code of Military Justice), is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as 
        paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after the subsection enumerator the 
        following new paragraphs: ``(1) When convening a court-martial, 
        the convening authority shall detail as members thereof members 
        of the armed forces under such regulations as the President may 
        prescribe for the randomized selection of qualified personnel 
        available to the convening authority for detail.
    ``(2) The randomized selection process developed and implemented 
under paragraph (1) may include parameter controls that--
            ``(A) allow for exclusions based on availability;
            ``(B) allow for controls based on military rank; and
            ``(C) allow for controls based on equitable representation 
        on the basis of race, sex, and ethnicity.''; and
            (3) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated--
                    (A) by striking the first sentence; and
                    (B) by striking ``when he is'' and inserting ``when 
                the member is''.

SEC. 5. MODIFICATIONS TO ANNUAL REPORTS ON RACIAL AND ETHNIC 
              DEMOGRAPHICS IN THE MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM.

    Section 486 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                inserting ``and other information'' after 
                ``statistics'';
                    (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (C) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraphs:
            ``(9) an estimate, based on survey data from the Armed 
        Forces Workplace and Equal Opportunity Surveys, of the number 
        of offenses committed by members of the armed force, 
        disaggregated by--
                    ``(A) statistical category as related to the 
                victim; and
                    ``(B) statistical category as related to the 
                principal;
            ``(10) an analysis of any disparities among race, sex, and 
        ethnicity in the incidence, reporting, disposition, and 
        prosecution of offenses by units, commands, and installations 
        during the year covered by the report, including trends 
        relating to--
                    ``(A) the prosecution of offenses; and
                    ``(B) the prevalence of offenses, set forth 
                separately for--
                            ``(i) each installation with 5,000 or more 
                        servicemembers;
                            ``(ii) the major career fields of any 
                        individuals involved in such incidents, 
                        including the fields of combat arms, aviation, 
                        logistics, maintenance, administration, and 
                        medical; and
                            ``(iii) in the case of the Navy, the 
                        operational status (whether sea duty or shore 
                        duty) of any individuals involved in such 
                        incidents; and
            ``(11) the policies, procedures, and processes implemented 
        by the Secretary concerned during the year covered by the 
        report in response to any race, sex, or ethnicity disparities 
        involving members of the armed force concerned.''; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(d) Publication.--The Secretary of Defense shall--
            ``(1) publish on an appropriate publicly available website 
        of the Department of Defense the reports required by subsection 
        (a); and
            ``(2) ensure that any data included with each such report 
        is made available in a machine-readable format that is 
        downloadable, searchable, and sortable.''.
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