Due Process Needs ‘Additional Review’ In Sexual Assault Bill, Co-Sponsor Says

Article here. Excerpt:

The Campus Accountability and Safety Act needs some tweaks to ensure that students accused of sexual assault don’t get railroaded by the campus disciplinary system, one of the bill’s co-sponsors told The Breeze, James Madison University’s student newspaper.

The school is under fire for punishing three students who filmed their sexual assault with "expulsion after graduation".

The entire phone conversation with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is transcribed:

"I do believe you do need, for the accused, you need to maintain due process rights. And then … I think this part of the legislation will probably require some additional review, but you know, what is the level of sanction? If the university continues to not responsibly deal with this issue. … I would like to see some action this year, I mean there’s still parts of this bill that need to be fully debated ..."

Warner trots out the questionable statistic that 1 in 5 women are sexually assaulted on campus, but deflects the paper’s request to “define mishandling of a sexual assault case”:

"I understand what’s going on with JMU … I’m not gonna try to put a description on what mishandling is … I think that’s — that’s what trying to get this legislation right would be, how you set up those standards. And I think we have set up a framework, but there’s more work to be done. …

How do you have an expedited process that gives the accused due process but also doesn’t leave the victim hanging in limbo?"
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Read the full interview with Warner here, and the full Campus Justice Coalition statement here.'