Arbitrartion Education:

The Jamie Leigh Foundation is determined to take action to get the Arbitration and Fairness Act (H.R. 30-10) passed. Millions of Americans give up their constitutional rights to a trial by jury on a daily basis when signing employment contracts, buying a house, purchasing a cell phone, renting a car, applying for a credit card etc. Individuals who work for government entities overseas normally sign an arbitration agreement in their employment contract. The arbitration clause in any contract is generally only a few sentences long. When an employee is injured abroad he/she is forced into a mandatory arbitration which is not subject to appeal. The arbitration proceeding is private and discrete and the outcome of arbitration cannot be disclosed to the public. Unfortunately, these contracts are stacked in favor of businesses, making it harder for individuals to prevail in a dispute and that’s just wrong. Originally, this was a voluntary way to expedite resolution of disputes but that’s not the situation now and the system needs to be evolved.

Jurisdictional Education

Currently there are approximately 180,000 military contractors in Iraq. Approximately 20,000 of those contractors are females. 50% of Americans on military bases in Iraq are contractors. Contractors have been immune from both Iraqi law and the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. Contractors have been able to adopt the “whatever happens in Iraq stays in Iraq” attitude. There is a double standard in laws that military personnel and contractors fall under. It seems unfair that an enlisted member of the armed forces can be court marshaled and the only likely ramification for criminal misconduct for civilian DOD contractors is the possibility of being fired, however it is unlikely. A United States Contractor signs an immunity agreement before going overseas that he or she has immunity from any tribunal action under Iraqi law (HRW, 2004). The Coalition Provision Authority enacted the immunity in June of 2003 (Hays, 2004). According Ohmy News (2004), The United States military code Manuel specifically states:

Contractor employees are not subject to military law under the UCMJ [Uniform Code of Military Justice] when accompanying US forces, except during a declared war. Maintaining discipline of contractor employees is the responsibility of the contractor’s management structure, not the military chain of command

Therefore, the UCMJ would have to be amended in order for armed military personnel to court marshal civilian contractors. The UCMJ would have to clearly define the clause “declared war” in order to have the ability to shadow contractors. In essence, civilian contractors are in war zones but that does not mean they are functioning during a “declared war”, which is a huge loophole in the UCMJ’s ability to law criminal contractors. In order to deter crimes from occurring, crimes must be punishable by law
It is necessary for defense contractors to be under an enforceable jurisdiction to protect our Americans working for contractors overseas. Thislegal blind spot in our justice system is in dire need of review. In order to reduce war crimes then criminals need to be held accountable. “In theory” the US contractors could be held accountable in the defendant’s state of residence (Jaffe, 2004). The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdictional Act passed in 2000 “may” give the state department some jurisdiction in prosecuting military contractors in Iraq, but it is still murky whether or not jurisdiction would in fact be under the state department jurisdiction. There has been a number of civilian misconduct cases referred to the state department, yet there has not been a single prosecution.
Civilian contractors were hired at an astronomical rate leaving no room for our laws to catch up (McGlinchy, 2004).  Experts are stating that when in Iraq there is little supervision of its contractors (Brinkley, 2004). Contractors without supervision or laws to abide by can yield to a dangerous result. There have been twelve documented cases of contractors shooting at civilians which resulted in six deaths that have not been prosecuted (Scahill, 2007). There has been no prosecution for these deaths, since the contractors are shielded from Iraqi law and UCMJ.
The beginning of the exposition of the immunity of defense contractors was during the abu Ghraib scandal on June 28th of 2004 (MCGlinchy 2004).  During this particular scandal, military guards and civilian contractors were responsible for mistreating and abusing prisoners. The military players in this scandal were court marshaled yet the contractors remain unpunished (McGlinchy 2004).
This legal blind spot in our justice system is in dire need of review. In order to reduce war crimes then criminals need to be held accountable. The state department needs to start jumping through bureaucratic hoops in order to get these criminals prosecuted. Contractors have fallen through the legal crack in that they are not quite soldiers or civilians since they are working in war zones. It is necessary for the safety of our fellow Americans to ensure this legal oversight is fixed. 
The Jamie Leigh Foundation is pushing for the HR27-40 MEJA expansion and enforcement act of 2007, which has passed in the House to be passed in the Senate- This act will requires FBI to establish on the ground investigative units in Iraq. We are dedicated to protect Americans working for government entities abroad by pushing for more stringent laws that umbrella criminal contractors.
References
(2005, Feb. 25). Iraqi Prisoner Contractors Backgrounds Unknown. Fox News. Retrieved June 18, 2007, from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148751,00.html
Brinkley, J. & Glanz, J. (2004, May 7). Contractors in Sensative Roles, Unchecked. The New York Times, 15-15. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from ProQuest (629789351).
Crowe, R. (2007, June 29). 4 ex-KBR workers sue over Iraq rape and sex harassment
charges. Houston Chronicle. p. 1-1.
Fine, G. (2005, Sept. 10). Security Contractors in Iraq Under Scrutiny After Shootings. Washington Post, (0190-8286), Retrieved July 18, 2007, from EBSCO Host Research Database
Glanz, J. (2004, May 7). Contractors in Sensitive Roles, Unchecked. New York Times, Retrieved June 18, 2007, from ProQuest (A. 15).
Hayes, J. (2005, May 21). Criminal Liability of Private Contractors in Iraq. Ohmy News International. Retrieved July 10, 2007, from http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=167959&rel_no=1
Jaffe, G. S. (2004, May 4). Iraq Contractors Pose Problem. The Wall Street Journal, (00999660), 4-4. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from ProQuest (627405961).
http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/pqdweb?did=627405961&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=62546&RQT=309&VName=PQD
McGlinchey, D. (2004, July 15). Judging Contractors. Government Executive, 36(12), 32-34. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from ProQuest (721256241).
http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/pqdweb?did=721256241&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=62546&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Peters, W. (2006). On Laws, Wars, and Mercenaries. Brigham Young University Law Review, 2006(2), 367-415. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from ProQuest (1107023321).
http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/pqdweb?did=1107023321&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=62546&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Scahill, J. (2007, May 11). The Testimony of Jeremy Scahill in Congress. Democracy Rising US. Retrieved June 19, 2007, from
                http://democracyrising.us/content/view/915/165/

Get  educated on “The Jamie Leigh Act of 2008”

When speaking to the victims that have come through The Jamie Leigh Foundation it has become evident that each woman, including Jamie Leigh, would have reconsidered employment or became extra vigilant to victimization, if it was a requirement of the contractor to disclose statistical data in annual reports of the violations and criminal acts committed on each housing and working locations in country to employees. It is necessary for contractors to be able to make informed decisions regarding their safety. We believe it should be known to all employees or individuals applying to become future employees of government contractors that these crimes are happening. We want to ensure that future wives, mothers, and daughters who work for government contractors to be aware of any criminal acts that occur on the housing grounds or workplace so they can make educated decisions on whether or not to continue employment or peruse employment with these contractors who are contracted to work where a Armed Forces are conducting a contingency operation.

Contract companies need to be held accountable by demanding that they also report to the employee and government how they have handled these violations, what measures they have taken to investigate these matters, findings of all internal investigations, and what type of security is in place to prevent future violations from happening. We believe that crime awareness depends on crime reporting. If contract companies are forced to show these reports to individuals seeking employment, or those who are already employed, it will deter injustices from happening by forcing them to have more adequate security measures in place.
  
In 1990 Congress passed the Jean Cleary Act, also known as known as the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act.  The act requires colleges and universities that receive federal funds for financial aid to provide full disclosure to students of all criminal activity that happens on or around campus property.

Such important disclosure, especially when it involves personal safety, was unfortunately not provided to KBR/Halliburton employees. Government contractors and subcontractors receive federal monies from the Pentagon.  We are demanding that government contractors comply with the same laws regulating disclosure of criminal activity as our colleges and universities. 

The proposed  Jamie Leigh Act of 2008:
An Act

To require contractors to disclose to employees and government agencies a report in a timely fashion of criminal  violations between employees and the violations between employees and insurgents in each work and housing location. This is to include criminal violations that were either reported, investigated, turned over to government investigative agencies, subjected to internal investigations, and internal Dispute Resolution Reports regarding criminal activity.

The Jamie Leigh Act of 2008  requires United States Corporations that are under a contract or subcontract awarded by any department agency of the Unites States, where work under such contract is carried out in an area, or in close proximity to an area (as designed by the Department of Defense), where the Armed Forces is conducting a contingency operation to oblige this Jamie Leigh Act to disclose to employees and government agencies including Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Interior, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the Director of National Intelligence shall each submit to Congress a report that contains the information, in timely fashion, annual reports of the violations committed but not limited to criminal violations between employees and criminal violations between employees and insurgents on each work and housing location.

In compliance with the Jamie Leigh Act the United States contractor has to show how they handle reports, investigations, and how crime and emergency situations are handled on housing and work location. It should also include data that shows how many of these violations are reported to the State Department, FBI, internal security coordinators, and investigational agencies. This entire report should be disclosed to employees or those who have applied to become future employees. This report should be included in employee handbooks and updated annually.