Cokie and Steve Roberts: Senior officers protective association
Attorney Susan Burke is mentioned in this column from Cokie and Steve Roberts:
The day that the Sinclair verdict came down, a member of the Navy football team, Joshua Tate, was acquitted on charges of raping a fellow midshipman during a drunken party near Annapolis. The pretrial phase of that case contained a particularly obscene episode when lawyers for the player repeatedly questioned the woman about her preferences in underwear and sex acts.
Susan Burke, an attorney for the accuser, said that her client was “twice victimized: first by her attacker and then by the failed investigation and prosecution of this case.”
Yes, the military has made some progress in confronting the appalling level of sexual violence rampant in its ranks. And Congress has passed some useful reforms. But these two cases show how deep the problem runs, and how much the brass still has to learn.
