Where is paula coughlin today

Coughlin also speaks on behalf of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for victims of sexual assault in the military, whose president, Nancy Parrish, has demanded that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel fire Franklin for exonerating Wilkerson. Protect Our Defenders is also pushing for Congress to remove responsibility for investigating sexual assaults in the military out of the chain of command to avoid the sort of criminal spree that took place at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio,where dozens of victims were assaulted by instructors, sometimes in storerooms and closets.

When the House Armed Services Committee focused on the scandal in January, not a single Lackland victim was invited to testify. Jackie Speier, the San Matea Democrat, noted. That much is clear in the comments made by Gen. Edward Rice, head of the Air Force training command at Lackland, who said last November that instructors will be given extra training to become more vigilant about abuses of power.

LAPD reformed as federal oversight lifted, city leaders say. Friends, family mourn Kern beating victim at Bakersfield service. Twitter: robinabcarian. Robin Abcarian is an opinion columnist at the Los Angeles Times. She writes about news, politics and culture.

Her columns appear on Wednesday and Sunday. It is unjust and inhuman to allow this broken and biased system to persist. It is un-American. This is about fairness, justice, and the right of every American—most especially those who have signed up to fight for our freedom—to have access to a transparent and legitimate system of justice worthy of our nation and in line with our values and constitutional rights.

Now is the time for a professional and objective system based on evidence and the rule of law. To suggest that our sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters should willingly accept anything less is a slap in the face to those who have fought so hard in service to this country. The calls from Military leaders and their supporters for more time ring hollow, and history shows that such promises are really just a veiled defense of the status quo.

No more excuses. Gregory Geiss admitted he groped women thrust down the gantlet, then criticized Coughlin for trying to destroy the Tailhook Association. Geiss initially denied to Navy investigators that he participated in the gantlet. Pressure from fellow Tailhook aviators led him to withhold the facts, he said in the testimony taped last month.

This is a failure for the victim and the command. The failure doesn't stop there for our servicewomen. And the suicide rate for female veterans is nearly six times the rate of civilian women. Confronting this culture of misogyny and discrimination against women is a moral obligation. It is time to show the country and the world how the U. Step up. Paula Coughlin is a former lieutenant in the Navy and serves on the board of directors of Protect Our Defenders.