Betsy DeVos is trying to stop an assault on civil rights on college campuses

Article here. Excerpt:

'For seven years, men accused of sexual assault, a category elastic enough to encompass “broad ranges of behavior” (read on), have been convicted, sometimes expelled, their futures blighted. Sometimes justice has been done, but injustices have been perpetrated by improvised campus tribunals orchestrated by administrators with vocational incentives to discover offenses that justify their offices. The “guidance” has mandated convictions on the basis of a mere “preponderance of the evidence” — 51 percent suffices — not “clear and convincing” proof, let alone proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The guidance strongly discouraged allowing the accused (almost always males) to cross-examine their accusers, who frequently are identified in proceedings as survivors — note the prejudgment. Accusers could appeal acquittals, exposing the accused to double jeopardy.
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As DeVos revises her department’s guidance, she should consult Brooklyn College law professor KC Johnson’s analysis of Yale University’s just-released report on the sexual dangers on its campus: The 1.75 percent of undergraduate females assaulted in the first half of 2018 is, if accurate, appalling. It also is a violent crime rate nearly as high as in Detroit, which the FBI rates America’s most dangerous city. The report provides no details for 18 of the 50 victims because the allegations came from a third party and the accuser did not pursue the matter. Only five of the other 32 cases went before Yale’s adjudication panel. The report says Yale “uses a more expansive definition of sexual assault” than do Connecticut and federal law — Yale’s definition encompasses “broad ranges of behavior” — but does not say why.'

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