Contact: Gina Lauterio
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: info@saveservices.org
SAVE Commends Senators Whitehouse and Grassley for Taking Lead to End ‘Second-Class Justice’ in Campus Sexual Assault Cases
WASHINGTON / December 12, 2014 – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments applauds Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Chuck Grassley for taking the initiative to strengthen the involvement of criminal justice authorities in campus sexual assault cases. The senators issued the statements during a December 9 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee that addressed the Roles and Responsibilities of Law Enforcement in Campus Sexual Assault: http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/campus-sexual-assault-the-roles-and-responsibilities-of-law-enforcement
In his prepared statement, Sen. Whitehouse noted,
“As a former United States Attorney and Attorney General for my state, I am concerned that law enforcement is being marginalized when it comes to the crime of campus sexual assault. I am concerned that the specter of flawed law enforcement overshadows the harm of marginalized law enforcement.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, Sen. Grassley commented,
“It’s high time to make sure that a crime is a crime wherever it is committed and treated the same way. And when it is treated universally the same way we will have less rape on campuses.”
The current federal policy requires campus disciplinary committees to handle all allegations of sexual assault. This regime has fostered the widespread perception of “second-class justice” at colleges and universities that shortchanges both victims and the accused.
Hundreds of editorials have criticized the campus disciplinary committees because they lack the necessary expertise, independence, and legal authority to adjudicate complex ‘he-said, she-said’ claims, commentators say: www.accusingu.org.
SAVE has drafted the Safety of Our Students (SOS) bill, which would require that campus sexual assault cases be investigated by local law enforcement authorities: http://www.saveservices.org/camp/campus-rape-courts/
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, a 501(c)(3) organization, is working to promote effective solutions to campus sexual assault: http://www.saveservices.org/