Senators Ask Trump to Keep Federal Campus-Sexual-Assault Guidelines in Place

Article here. Excerpt:

'Shortly after a Republican lawmaker recommended that President-elect Donald Trump roll back federal campus-sexual-assault guidelines, two Democratic senators sent a letter to Trump on Thursday urging him to keep the rules in place, BuzzFeed News reports.

In a letter obtained by BuzzFeed, Democratic senators Patty Murray and Bob Casey asked Trump not to rescind a 2011 Dear Colleague letter that was issued by the Department of Education, which clarified how schools must respond to sexual violence under the Title IX gender-equality law. Yet, in December, Republican representative Mark Meadows included the letter in a report on regulations he wants to see repealed or changed during Trump’s first 100 days. According to USA Today, Meadows believes the campus-sexual-assault guidelines are “one-size fits all” and “deny the often-innocent accused basic due process rights.”

Casey and Murray pointed out in their letter that the Education Department laid out “preponderance of evidence” standards for campus-sexual-assault investigations. Under the standard, school officials have to decide if they’re more than 50 percent certain of someone’s guilt. That standard is lower than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal court, but still “well established” for civil-rights violations and civil-court proceedings.'