California’s Date-Rape Bill Could Be Trumpted

Article here. Excerpt:

'California is considering a bill, SB493, to govern investigations of alleged date rapes on college campuses – which would deny the right to cross examine, and make the investigator also a judge and jury – but any such legislation is likely to be countermanded by the growing number of judges holding that colleges, even private ones, must provide due process protections to accused students, suggests public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

The Constitution, with its guarantees of due process, trumps federal law, state law, and also any federal regulations, notes Banzhaf, who cites a number of recent examples.

A federal judge has just stopped a hearing at the University of Virginia [UVA] which probably would have prevented a student from graduating and beginning his now job, even though the alleged sexual assault occurred off campus to a woman who had no connection whatsoever with the university.

The judge found that his due process rights would be violated since he would not even be allowed to raise a basic defense to the charges, reports Banzhaf.'