Month: July 2015

Contact: Gina Lauterio

Email: info@saveservices.org

Sexual Assault Ruling at UCSD Could Ripple Across U.S.

WASHINGTON / July 23, 2015 – A recent judicial ruling in favor of a California student accused of sexual assault could have an impact on colleges and universities across the country. The ruling could have “tremendous pervasive influence on other courts,” according to University of Pennsylvania professor Amy Wax.

The ruling involved two University of California–San Diego students who met at a party and later engaged in two sexual encounters. The complainant admitted the second encounter was consensual, but claimed the first was not.

In his decision, Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman concluded, “Ms. Roe admitted that she voluntarily continued consensual sexual activity with Mr. Doe later that very same day…The sequence of events do not demonstrate non-consensual behavior.”

Concluding “the hearing against petitioner was unfair,” Judge Pressman also found serious procedural flaws in the university’s handling of the case. First, the campus tribunal allowed “only nine of [the accused’s] thirty-two questions” to be posed to the woman. Second, the complainant was “placed behind a barrier during the proceedings” which tended to remove the presumption of innocence. Third, an appeal of the campus committee’s decision resulted in the imposition of even stronger sanctions, an action the judge deemed to be unfairly “punitive.”

“Campus sexual assault is a serious problem that calls for a criminal justice response,” notes SAVE spokesperson Sheryle Hutter. “Reducing sexual assault to a dispute over nuanced interpretations of sexual consent does a profound disservice to victims of a violent sexual attack.”

Judge Pressman’s ruling can be read here: http://documents.latimes.com/uc-san-diego-sex-assault-case-ruling-doe-vs-regents-uc-san-diego/

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is working to promote effective solutions to campus sexual assault: http://www.saveservices.org/

Contact: Gina Lauterio

Email: info@saveservices.org

Affirmative Consent Policies Eliminate the Presumption of Innocence, Critics Charge

WASHINGTON / July 14, 2015 – Following recent passage of a law in New York on campus sexual assault, Affirmative Consent policies are coming under fire from civil rights and legal experts. The New York law will require that “clear affirmative agreement” be expressed before any sexual activity occurs between two students.

Robert Shibley of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a civil liberties group, notes that Affirmative Consent policies serve to promote a “guilty until proven innocent” mindset.

In her June 27 column, New York Times contributing writer Judith Shulevitz decried the notion of making “sex a crime under conditions of poor communication.” Her article quoted Harvard law professor Jeannie Suk who chided Affirmative consent as an “unworkable standard.”

In her July 1 column, ‘Affirmative Consent’ Will Make Rape Laws Worse, Megan McArdle charges Affirmative Consent will make it more difficult to prosecute an offender because predators can “always insist they got that affirmative consent.

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly openly ridiculed the New York law in her July 9 broadcast: “But it has gotten to the point of ridiculousness. Verbal consent, every step of the way?” Kelly also deplored how Affirmative Consent policies “almost entirely eliminate the rights of men.

The Community of the Wrongly Accused website noted that a determination of consent cannot be based on the after-the-fact feelings of the accuser. “Such a standard not only is grossly unjust and unconstitutional, it doesn’t work,” the July 8 editorial notes

Constitutional attorney Hans Bader has warned of persons who use affirmative consent to “seek even more power over people’s private lives.

“‘No-means-no’ has long been the accepted standard for sexual consent,” notes SAVE spokesperson Sheryle Hutter. “But now campus zealots are trying to destroy basic notions of fairness in a rush to outlaw 99% of sex acts.”

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is working to promote effective solutions to campus sexual assault: http://www.saveservices.org/