The Safe Campus Act Is Terrible

[Deleted]

I shortened the title from the original, though I believe I did it appropriately unless there's something major I'm missing about why this would be a good piece of legislation.

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/55f300cce4b063ecbfa4150b?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

A bill being considered in the House that would restrict colleges from punishing students accused of sexual assault is meeting near-universal opposition from advocacy organizations who work with rape victims.

The Safe Campus Act, originally sponsored by Republican Reps. Matt Salmon of Arizona, and Pete Sessions and Kay Granger of Texas, would prohibit colleges and universities from punishing a student accused of sexual assault and battery unless the reporting victim also goes to police with the complaint.
Twenty-six advocacy organizations working with sexual assault victims contacted by The Huffington Post in recent days said they are opposed to the bill. A handful declined to take a policy position, but no group working with or on behalf of rape victims offered to endorse the legislation.
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Under the Safe Campus Act, colleges would still be allowed to punish a student for illegal acts like selling drugs, stealing or physical assault regardless of police involvement, but sexual assault and battery would be off limits unless the reporting victim goes to cops in addition to school administrators.

In one scenario that could be envisioned under the bill, a student could accuse a classmate of sexual assault, and also accuse the classmate of harassing her in the hallways by pinching her butt -- but if she doesn't want to report the incidents to police, then the university would only be allowed to discipline the accused student for the hallway harassment.

Monika Johnson-Hostler, president of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence; Annette Burrhus-Clay, executive director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault; and Allie Bones, executive director of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, sent a letter in August to the sponsors of the Safe Campus Act to express their "grave concern" with the bill.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) sponsored the Safe Campus Act.
Higher education institutions have long "exercised authority to sanction their students for policy violations, regardless of whether the conduct also constitutes a crime," Johnson-Hostler, Burrhus-Clay and Bones said in their letter, shared with The Huffington Post. They added: "Campuses are obligated to determine whether or not a student violated school policy and to protect the civil rights of the victim."

The three also questioned why sexual assault was the only crime and form of student misconduct for which due process concerns are raised.

"We don't force victims of other crimes to interact with police and file reports and initiate a criminal justice investigation," said Kristen Houser, chief public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

Colleges and universities are obligated under the gender equity law Title IX to address reports of sexual violence, due to a series of court decisions and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. Currently, when a student reports that they were sexually assaulted by a peer, regardless of whether they decide to engage law enforcement, the college may investigate and discipline the accused under the school's code of conduct.
Johnson-Hostler, Burrhus-Clay and Bones said in their letter that this is similar to obligations an employer has when one employee accuses another of harassment or assault.

"The campus process and criminal process are two separate and distinct processes with different purposes and goals," Johnson-Hostler told HuffPost. "Campuses should be able to continue their process regardless of the student's decision to move forward with a police report."

Sometimes a district attorney may decline to press charges, but the university may still determine an accused student violated the school's code of conduct and issue a sanction. In rare cases, a college may dismiss a student's report of sexual assault, but a criminal trial may still find the accused guilty of an attack, as recently occurred at Baylor University.

The Safe Campus Act would change that by requiring colleges to send cases to police first.

"It sends the message that if you didn't go to law enforcement, then what happened to you wasn't real and wasn't important, and that is the opposite of the culture we're trying to create," said Sofie Karasek, director of education and co-founder of End Rape on Campus.
Several higher education trade organizations immediately distanced themselves from the bill when it was introduced in July, saying they don't believe it would address their concerns about federal regulations regarding sexual assault. Activists went on the offensive against the legislation last week as a hearing in the House Education and Workforce Committee began to discuss the proposed law.
National fraternity and sorority groups are working to promote the bill, after suggesting earlier this year that schools restrict campus rape investigations until after a criminal investigation and trial are completed. The organizations have declined to make anyone available to HuffPost for an interview.

"It would be really great if the Greek system would own up to this problem and say, 'We haven't been perfect, we're far from perfect,' but instead they're trying to sweep it under the rug even further," Karasek said. "It's exactly the opposite of what we were hoping they would do."

Salmon, Sessions and Granger's offices did not respond to requests for comment. The North-American Interfraternity Conference and the National Panhellenic Conference also did not respond to request for comment for this story.

[nsl]

So the title "Safe Campus Act" is a sick joke, right?

[Deleted]

Sept 14, 2015 20:19:41 GMT -5 nsl said:

So the title "Safe Campus Act" is a sick joke, right?

In the sense of, "the campus itself will be safe from any responsibility, while you victims are SOL," it sure seems so.

[tacosforlife]

Wait, what is the source of Congress's authority to regulate whether college and universities can punish students under their own code of conduct?

[ESF]

Sept 14, 2015 20:34:14 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

Wait, what is the source of Congress's authority to regulate whether college and universities can punish students under their own code of conduct?

Thank you.

I mean, wtf.

[compassrose]

What the actual fuck.
So we can kick someone out for cheating but not rape?!

[tacosforlife]

Not surprisingly, Washigton Post has more information. However, this is still confusing. But if all these anti-tape advocates oppose it, I'll stand with them.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/07/29/do-students-get-a-fair-hearing-an-effort-to-change-how-colleges-handle-sexual-assaults/

[heyjude]

Sept 14, 2015 20:34:14 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

Wait, what is the source of Congress's authority to regulate whether college and universities can punish students under their own code of conduct?

Federal Aid from FAFSA.

[emilyj]

I keep typing and deleting my response, because I don't want to come off sounding like I support the Safe Campus Act.

I don't think the student code of conduct board on any campus should be meriting punishment for a criminal act - drugs, robbery, assault - nothing.

I realize this gets very muddy and murky very quickly, but I look at it like this. Most boards that deal with student codes of conduct are made up of administrators, professors, staff and other students. If I was asked to sit on that board, and a case of a student accused of rape came before the board...I would feel wholly uncomfortable making a judgment on that because I know absolutely nothing about the legalities of such a charge.

Yes, we absolutely need to protect our students. I don't think Safe Act does a very good job of doing that.

[sonrisa]

Sept 14, 2015 22:03:52 GMT -5 emilyj said:

 Most boards that deal with student codes of conduct .... because I know absolutely nothing about the legalities of such a charge.

Here's the thing - they should be able to punish a student for sexual assault that violates the code of conduct *regardless* of the legalities of the charge. They aren't giving out criminal penalties. 

Plenty of states require force as an element of rape. That means that explicitly not consenting - saying no, repeatedly - isn't enough to make it rape under the law of those states. Any college that cares even a whit for the well being of its students should make sexual assault without consent against the code of conduct - regardless of lack of force. And it should be a serious offense. This law would require women who were raped by any normal understanding to go to a police station *even though the police will  not, legally, consider them to have been raped.* How awful.