,i #aagth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #gdde ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,april #g1 #bjbb,mr4 ,brown of ,maryland introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice to establish an independent convening authority for certain offenses1 randomize jury selection1 and improve reporting on racial and ethnic demographics1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this act may be cited as the ,equal ,justice ,under ,military ,law ,act4 #b4 ,modifications to covered offenses under uniform code of military justice 7a7 ,in general ,section #hja7ag77;,a7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7article #a7ag77;,a7 of the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice71 as amended by section #ecc of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjbb 7,public ,law #aag-ha71 is amended-- 7#a7 by inserting 1 section #iba 7article #aba71 section #iba;a 7article #aba;a71 section #ibb 7article #abb7 after 7article #abj;c72 and 7#b7 by inserting 1 section #ibf 7article #abf71 section #ibh7;b7 7article #abh7;b771 section #ibh7;c7 7article #abh7;c77 after 7article #abe74 7b7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by subsection 7a7 shall take effect immediately after the coming into effect of the amendments made by section #ecc of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjbb 7,public ,law #aag-ha7 as provided in section #eci;,c of that ,act4 #c4 ,establishment of independent convening authority for certain offenses 7a7 ,general courts-,martial ,section #hbb of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7article #bb of the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice7 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a71 by striking ,general courts-martial may be convened by and inserting ,subject to subsection 7c71 general courts-martial may be convened by2 and 7#b7 by adding at the end the following new subsection3 7c7 ,a general court-martial involving a covered offense may be convened only by the independent convening authority designated by the ,president pursuant to section #c7;d7 of the ,equal ,justice ,under ,military ,law ,act4 4 7b7 ,special courts-,martial ,section #hbc of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7article #bc of the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice7 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a71 by striking ,special courts-martial may be convened by and inserting ,subject to subsection 7c71 special courts-martial may be convened by2 and 7#b7 by adding at the end the following new subsection3 7c7 ,a special court-martial involving a covered offense may be convened only by the independent convening authority designated by the ,president pursuant to section #c7;d7 of the ,equal ,justice ,under ,military ,law ,act4 4 7c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by subsections 7a7 and 7b7 shall take effect immediately after the coming into effect of the amendments made by part #a of title ,v of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjbb 7,public ,law #aag-ha7 as provided in section #eci;,c of that ,act4 7d7 ,designation of independent authority 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than the effective date specified in subsection 7c71 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 #hbb7;c7 and #hbc7;c7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7articles #bb7;c7 and #bc7;c7 of the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice71 as added by subsection 7a74 ,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 offenses1 and may include a special trial counsel4 7#b7 ,definitions ,in this subsection3 7,a7 ,the term covered offense has the meaning given that term in section #hja7ag7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7article #a7ag7 of the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice71 as added by section #ecc of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjbb 7,public ,law #aag-ha7 and further amended by section #b of this ,act4 7,b7 ,the term special trial counsel has the meaning given that term in section #hja7ah7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7article #a7ah7 of the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice71 as added by section #ecc of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjbb 7,public ,law #aag-ha74 7e7 ,conforming amendment ,title ,v of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjbb 7,public ,law #aag-ha7 is amended by striking section #ecd4 #d4 ,selection process for members to serve on courts-martial ,section #hbe7;e7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7article #be7;e7 of the ,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice71 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating paragraphs 7#a71 7#b71 and 7#c7 as paragraphs 7#c71 7#d71 and 7#e71 respectively2 7#b7 by inserting after the subsection enumerator the following new paragraphs3 7#a7 ,when convening a court-martial1 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 detail4 7#b7 ,the randomized selection process developed and implemented under paragraph 7#a7 may include parameter controls that-- 7,a7 allow for exclusions based on availability2 7,b7 allow for controls based on military rank2 and 7,c7 allow for controls based on equitable representation on the basis of race1 sex1 and ethnicity4 2 and 7#c7 in paragraph 7#d71 as so redesignated-- 7,a7 by striking the first sentence2 and 7,b7 by striking when he is and inserting when the member is4 #e4 ,modifications to annual reports on racial and ethnic demographics in the military justice system ,section #dhf of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7b7-- 7,a7 in the matter preceding paragraph 7#a71 by inserting and other information after statistics2 7,b7 in paragraph 7#g71 by striking and at the end2 7,c7 in paragraph 7#h71 by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon2 and 7,d7 by adding at the end the following new paragraphs3 7#i7 an estimate1 based on survey data from the ,armed ,forces ,workplace and ,equal ,opportunity ,surveys1 of the number of offenses committed by members of the armed force1 disaggregated by-- 7,a7 statistical category as related to the victim2 and 7,b7 statistical category as related to the principal2 7#aj7 an analysis of any disparities among race1 sex1 and ethnicity in the incidence1 reporting1 disposition1 and prosecution of offenses by units1 commands1 and installations during the year covered by the report1 including trends relating to-- 7,a7 the prosecution of offenses2 and 7,b7 the prevalence of offenses1 set forth separately for-- 7i7 each installation with #e1jjj or more servicemembers2 7ii7 the major career fields of any individuals involved in such incidents1 including the fields of combat arms1 aviation1 logistics1 maintenance1 administration1 and medical2 and 7iii7 in the case of the ,navy1 the operational status 7whether sea duty or shore duty7 of any individuals involved in such incidents2 and 7#aa7 the policies1 procedures1 and processes implemented by the ,secretary concerned during the year covered by the report in response to any race1 sex1 or ethnicity disparities involving members of the armed force concerned4 2 and 7#b7 by inserting after subsection 7c7 the following new subsection3 7d7 ,publication ,the ,secretary of ,defense shall-- 7#a7 publish on an appropriate publicly available website of the ,department of ,defense the reports required by subsection 7a72 and 7#b7 ensure that any data included with each such report is made available in a machine-readable format that is downloadable1 searchable1 and sortable4 4