VAWA 'harmful for America'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Radical feminists recently suffered a rare setback when a U.S. senator decided to back away from proposed legislation that would have denied college students basic civil rights.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) has dropped the "preponderance of evidence" standard that was to be added to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Phil Cook of Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), an organization that dedicates itself to protecting victims and stopping false allegations, tells OneNewsNow what that would have meant for college students accused of a sex crime.

"The standard is it's more likely than not a sexual assault occurred -- that's what 'preponderance of evidence' means," he details.

But even though the clause has been removed, the SAVE spokesman says there are still many unresolved issues involving the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, such as a Department of Education directive that requires schools to set up tribunals to judge students accused of sex assaults.

"Colleges must set up basically kangaroo courts. These are committees made up of faculty and students," Cook explains. "These committees are set up to look into things like plagiarism and cheating and things like that; they're not set up to be criminal investigative units."

So even though he is pleased Senator Leahy has dropped one controversial standard of the VAWA, Cook's organization warns that numerous existing provisions are "dangerous to victims and harmful to fundamental American values and institutions."'