"Ninth Circuit holds that soldier discharged for rape deserves honorable discharge."
Some would argue that such a description would be factually inaccurate. For example, the court martial jury only found him guilty of "wrongful sexual conduct," not rape. Though the Ninth Circuit describes the relevant facts as follows: "After she
declined Bussey’s request to “cuddle,” she said he picked her
up, took her to the bed, and began removing her clothing.
She said she repeatedly told Bussey to stop and that she did
not want to have sex with him, but he forcibly held her down
and penetrated her." Which at least sounds an awful lot like rape.
Some might also argue that the Ninth Circuit didn't necessarily say that Mr. Bussey deserved an honorable discharge, and rather merely reversed the grant of summary judgment to the government and said that the soldier might perhaps be able to demonstrate that PTSD from Afghanistan "contributed" to his decision to unlawfully sexually assault the victim.
But others might well respond that PTSD isn't an excuse for raping someone and/or that someone who is found guilty of unlawfully sexually assaulting someone while in the military should not be granted an honorable discharge, period.
PTSD or no.
Regardless: I submit the opinion to you for your review.
