“Military Justice” may be close to being an oxymoron, as it appears there really is little justice in the military - at least it looked that way when this case began. With their own set of rules and regulations, it seems that one can get away with almost anything, or be charged with almost anything. It’s also a world where sometimes the victims are treated as the guilty party, depending on which regulations have been violated. That’s not to say that the military is wrong to have regulations that hold their members to a higher standard. If a person in the military can’t follow simple rules of conduct, it could be difficult to follow the tougher rules in matters of combat, or to follow the orders of a commanding officer. In the case of Amelia Albers, she did make some massive errors in judgment as far as her military conduct, but that certainly doesn't mean that her rape was excusable and could be swept under the rug.
The military policing itself on certain crimes (sexual assault or even murder) doesn’t always make sense, especially when it can be all too easy for the chain of command to sweep the incident under the rug or cover up repeat offenders. It’s no different than religious organizations handling accusations of sexual abuse/misconduct within their own ranks; if one has a stake in the matter, it becomes too easy to make the problem disappear without anyone being held truly accountable. In this episode, clearly one Commander had a lot at stake, and was in the perfect position to cover his tracks.
Overall, I liked this episode. However, for some reason which I can’t quite verbalize, I felt that “Military Justice” was sometimes heavy handed in their demonizing of the military. It may have been that all the detectives seemed to have some chip on their shoulder about the military or it could have been the timing of the episode, which aired only a few days after Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor our military. Having one of the rapists turn out to be a victim himself made it sound like the whole group just can’t go out and drink without raping somebody in their peer group where they the need to dominate or intimidate.
Shiri Appleby was very convincing and did an excellent job in showing the victim’s own shame at her mistakes in conduct and the trauma of what happened to her. It was an interesting hour of television that included just enough legal drama to keep me interested. I am surprised that the detectives, after being involved in so many Internal Affairs investigations, did not seem to be aware of Garrity Rights. (This includes Amaro’s ex wife, who served in the military and now works for the Pentagon. Can we trust that she really not know what she was doing by getting that file for Nick?) This episode raises the visibility of how victims of sexual assaults in the military may be handled by their own chain of command, and hopefully it will encourage change.
Here is the recap
Cast:
Mariska Hargitay – Detective Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Dann Florek – Captain Don Cragen
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Danny Pino - Detective Nick Amaro
Raúl Esparza - ADA Rafael Barba
Guest stars
Shiri Appleby – Amelia Albers
Terry Serpico – Commander William Taverts
Laura Benanti – Maria Grazie
John Getz - Admiral Vincent Albers
Will Janowitz - Scott Graver
Aaron Dean Eisenberg -Matthew Wooten
Phillip James Brannon - Zeke Lipitt
Delaney Williams - Counselor John Buchanan
Aida Turturro – Judge Catano
Jolly Abraham – Doctor
Kate Levy – Cynthia Albers
Johnny M. Wu - Officer Mills
Phillip James Brannon – Petty Officer Zeke Lipitt
Joanne Baron – Counselor Diane Schwartz
Kyle Nunn – Coast Guard Officer
Aldo Uribe –Ozzie
Danielle Ferland – Tori
Hector Lincoln – Jesus
Alison Fernandez – Zara Amaro
C.E. Smith – Jury Foreman
Keola Simpson – Male I.O.
Lauren Noble - Carmen
On Officer Mills police car video cam, he is struggling to control a woman in a military uniform who is clearly drunk, as she spouts off her family’s military history, saying he can’t arrest her.
Later, Benson and Amaro are at the 3rd precinct and Office Mills appraises them of the situation, and as he leads them to the cell where the woman – Amelia Albers - is being held. He explains that something happened to her but she won’t say. They enter the cell and see she is bloodied and her clothes are torn. She insists he has to get back to her post, but they try to convince her to go to a hospital. She explains her absence is unauthorized, and says it was her fault, and begs them not to tell anyone in her sector. Benson asks if she was raped, but Amelia does not answer.
Afterwards, at the hospital, the doctor explains Amelia’s extensive injuries and the assault was brutal and likely by more than one person. They had to pump her stomach and they could not give her painkillers at first because her blood alcohol was too high. They speak with Amelia who weakly says she is better – she thinks. She wants to get back to her sector but Amaro explains she can’t as she is technically awaiting arraignment for her DUI. She says she does not know who they were, she drank a lot. She was at officer candidate school for a year and on duty for the past 6 months, she must have lost her tolerance for alcohol. Her and a few others were doing a recruiting show and afterwards she and a few of the guys went to a bar to blow off steam. When Amaro says they will need they names, she says she thinks they all went back so she doesn’t think it will help. She sees she is cuffed to the bed. She recalls dancing with the guys from the kitchen, they were Mexican. She stresses she needs to go, she missed her curfew. Benson asks if she has anyone in the area she can call, and Amelia says her mom lives in Annapolis, but she asks them to tell her mom not to tell her father, he will be so disappointed. Benson emphasizes she did not do anything wrong, but Amelia says she is an ensign, she is supposed to take care of herself.
Back at SVU, they detectives watch the video of Amelia’s arrest, and when Fin states she is a military brat, Amaro says she is military royalty, her father is an admiral in the Coast Guard who works with advanced interdiction teams. Cragen walks in and states that an admirals daughter gets gang raped so One PP wants answers fast. Benson replies they are not going to get them from her. Rollins asks about the guys she came in with, and Benson explains they are back on their base. Amaro says the military and rape – they will not be happy to see them. Cragen replies that is too bad, they are investigating am assault on one of their own, they’ll cooperate.
Cragen. Benson, Amaro and Fin arrive at the base in two separate cars, and Fin announce who they are at the gate. Fin whispers to Rollins that he gets PTSD just sitting there. She asks how long did he serve, and he explains he was Army Ranger, 2 tours, and comments that if she thinks the NYPD has a lot of paperwork…the gate opens and they drive in.
Inside the base, Fin speaks with Officer Lipitt who says he tried to get Amelia’s car keys but she slapped him. He explains where they were. Meanwhile, Amaro speaks with Office Wooten who explains her heavy drinking and her behavior. He tried to get her out of there but she refused, saying when the left she was with the two Mexican cooks. When Amaro asks whatever happened to never leaving a man behind, Wooten says Amelia is not a man and when a woman tells you to go away, you go away. Rollins speaks with Officer Graver who says it was 1AM by the time he got back, and he says Amelia is in enough trouble already. Rollins reminds him she was brutalized and wonders how much trouble can she be in. He says she is in pretty deep with the Commander for missing curfew. Rollins notices Graver’s hands are shaking.
Meanwhile, Cragen and Benson speak with Commander Taverts who says he is sick about this but says Amelia is a train wreck. He explains she is under a lot of pressure and even now it is not easy being a woman on a ship and he has already been cutting her breaks as a courtesy to her father. asks if it is common knowledge that she is the Admiral’s daughter, and Taverts replies “Oh, I’d say so.” He explains he is a legend and a good man, he served under him and has been trying to reach him, adding it will not be an easy conversation. He says it is not just the attack, he will understand what this means for her standing. Benson testily comments that with all due respect, what does her gang rape have to do with her standing. He explains she was publicly intoxicated and was arrested for DUI, she is supposed to be with a buddy at all times and this shows poor judgment on her part.
Later, walking outside with Amaro and Cragen, Benson tells Cragen that she was gang raped, and he called it poor judgment on her part. Cragen tells her easy, it is not their turf. Amaro adds that they don’t want women here in the first place, she gets raped they are going to use it to end her career. They meet up with Rollins and Fin who are waiting and Fin informs them that their buddies threw Amelia under the bus, Rollins adds they claimed they tried to stop her from driving but they are blaming her for being drunk and belligerent. Cragen asks if anybody have them anything useful, and Amaro explains the men said when she left the bar, she was dirty dancing with the cooks, and Benson thinks there may be some truth to that. Cragen replies if there is, it went downhill after that and to find out what happened.
