SAVE: Leahy Bill Would Turn Every College Male into a Rape Suspect, Group Warns

Press release here. Excerpt:

'Washington, DC/October 27, 2011 – Senator Patrick Leahy’s proposed Violence Against Women Act reauthorization would trample upon the due process rights of college students, according to Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The bill would make into law the Department of Education’s recently issued guidelines that reduce the standard of proof in sexual assault cases to the controversial “preponderance of evidence” level.

That unusually low standard requires only that 50.01 percent of the evidence be in favor of an assault having happened. SAVE previously requested the Department of Education to rescind its guidelines, which were issued without prior notice or opportunity for public comment: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/OCRLetter.pdf.

Earlier this month, Caleb Warner was allowed to return to the University of North Dakota after being victimized by the university’s unconstitutionally low standard of evidence. The accuser had filed claims of sexual assault with both the University and the municipal police department. Two investigations resulted -- the university’s according to the preponderance standard, and the police’s according to the usual “clear and convincing” standard -- and they could not have turned out more differently.'