Attorneys send letter to senators opposing campus sexual assault bill

Article here. Excerpt:

'A group of 20 attorneys from across the country with experience handling sexual assault cases sent a letter on Thursday to the co-sponsors of the Senate’s campus sexual assault bill.

The attorneys, who have all represented students accused of sexual assault who are now suing their universities for lack of due process, wrote that while sexual assault needs to be addressed, rights of the accused need to be preserved.

“We are concerned that the complexity of the problem and the momentum to find a solution to the manner in which colleges handle these matters will overwhelm any effort to ensure fair treatment to and protect the rights of the accused — particularly with respect to due process, impartiality and the collection of evidence,” the attorneys wrote.

They cited the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, noting the legislation uses the word “victim” or “victims” 34 times but “accused” only once.

“By presuming that all accusers are in fact ‘victims’ prior to any investigation or adjudication, the proposed legislation does a grave disservice to those accused of serious sexual offenses by ignoring a concept at the core of due process, innocent until proven guilty,” the attorneys wrote.'