Harvard Law profs challenge federal sex-assault ‘guidance’

Submitted by Mastodon on Wed, 2016-05-18 05:01

Article here. Excerpt:

'A collection of prominent law school professors, including Harvard’s Alan Dershowitz, shot back at President Barack Obama’s Education Department over its practice of using “Dear Colleague” letters to lay down policy mandates that ride roughshod over Americans’ constitutional rights.

A letter from the educators dated Monday asserts that the department’s civil rights office “has unlawfully expanded the nature and scope of institutions’ responsibility to address sexual harassment” through its directives regarding Title IX, the 1972 law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in providing access to education. Most people know of Title IX through its effects on women’s collegiate athletics, but it has been applied more recently to things like sexual assault and gender-based issues such as access to sex-segregated facilities.

The professors cite “guidance” issued in 1997 that put sexual harassment under the actions barred by the 1972 law, and say that since then the department “has steadily expanded the definition of sexual harassment and imposed a growing range of responsibilities on colleges to curb such conduct. As a result, free speech and due process on campus are now imperiled.”'

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Why is the man put on trial?

The theory here is that universities have a legal responsibility to prevent rape. So if a rape occurs, why isn't the university itself expelled or denied funding? The fault does not lie with the rapist; it lies with the university.

That may seem absurd, but it's exactly why state entities do not serve as private security forces. The state does not guarantee your safety; it's job is to arrest and try those accused of a crime. It cannot be sued if someone is the victim of a crime. If it could be sued, the state would soon go bankrupt.

Universities are being put in exactly that position: prevent rape or lose funding. The university must now guarantee the student's safety. The best course for a university is to find as many men guilty as possible--due process be damned. But then risk being sued by the accused. The result is that the value of education is being diminished even while the cost of education increases.

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Submitted by el cid on Wed, 2016-05-18 12:20

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/college-students-run-crying-to-daddy-administrator/2016/05/19/61b53f54-1deb-11e6-9c81-4be1c14fb8c8_story.html

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Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2016-05-20 22:15