Marine Corps Settles Rape Lawsuit

[sabra]

Source: AP

SAN FRANCISCO - The Marine Corps agreed Thursday to revamp its recruiting practices in Northern California and pay $200,000 to two young women who claimed they were raped during a slumber party at a Ukiah recruiting office.

The women were in high school, 17 years old, and interested in joining the military in late 2004 when they claimed the two recruiters, Sgts. Joseph Dunzweiler and Brian Fukushima, raped them. Both recruiters were demoted after court-martial proceedings but were acquitted of the most serious charges.

The unusual settlement, signed Thursday by a federal judge in San Francisco, requires notices to be posted at recruiting stations throughout the region advising potential recruits how to reach a confidential advocate if they feel a recruiter has behaved inappropriately, and explaining that young women have the right to work with a female recruiter. The settlement also requires female supervision at slumber parties with female recruits.

An Associated Press investigation published last year found that across all military services, one out of 200 frontline recruiters - the ones who deal directly with young people - was disciplined for sexual misconduct in 2005. In response, the Defense Department announced last summer it would closely monitor military recruiters and their commanders and consider a policy change.

Read more: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,138437,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl

[Sapere aude]

1. 17 yr olds in slumber parties with male recruiters? Who's idea was that?

[WatchWhatISay]

2. Maybe Brian Fukushima's

You'd think with a name like that, some red flags would have at least breifly crossed the mind

[whopis01]

4. I hope you are just making a crude joke about his last name

Because that comes off sounding like a pretty damn racist comment. We should judge people based on their family name? Sickening.

[WatchWhatISay]

10. Race?

What the hell are you talking about. I was alluding to the first four letters of this guys last name. Race never entered my mind.

[whopis01]

11. racial may not have been the right term, insensitive and bigoted may be better.

It is clearly a name of Japanese origin. Making judgments about people based on their family name smacks of bigotry and insensitivity. Unless we are to believe that all people with the Fukushima are interested in raping girls at slumber parties.

The problem with statements that target people because of their name and not their actions is that it then applies to all people with that name.

[Dhalgren]

3. Whose do you think?

[Sapere aude]

5. Why did the girls go along with it?

[Dhalgren]

7. God, who knows? Maybe they thought there would be lots of other

teens there with the same plans. Maybe they were lied to about what the 'event" actually was. Their problem was that they and their families trusted these men, of course, that was a mistake...

[toopers]

13. Wow, that sounds like you are saying . . .

that no man or no soldier can be trusted?

[Akoto]

6. I don't mean to ask a stupid question, but ...

Marine Corps slumber parties? Is this a new recruiting tactic? What kind of BS are they feeding these kids?

[trashcanistanista]

8. I Was about toask the same thing.

Is this a new recruiting tactic? What were the parents thinking?

[burrowowl]

9. They were under 18

isn't this some sort of felony?

[Nikki Stone1]

12. Yep. The Marine Corps covered its ass on this one.

The whole idea of having these girls sleep over makes no sense. It sounds like a thing the guys made up to get the girls to stay overnight.

[jazzjunkysue]

14. Right. Let's see what page "sleepover party" happens in the manual.

I'd love to see the national stats on how often those take place. Not.

[DawgHouse]

15. What is a recruiting slumber party, anyway?

I've never heard of such a thing.