Category: Campus

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Accusing U. Campus Civil Rights DED Sexual Assault Directive False Allegations Sexual Assault Wrongful Convictions

PR: SAVE Calls on Dept. of Education to Rescind ‘Flawed’ Sexual Assault Policy

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

SAVE Calls on Dept. of Education to Rescind ‘Flawed’ Sexual Assault Policy

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — College students across the nation are now returning to campuses where student civil rights are being curtailed by a new sex assault mandate issued by the U.S. Department of Education (DED), says SAVE.

SAVE, a victim-advocacy organization, worries the new federal requirements will invite a rash of false allegations, ultimately harming the credibility of true victims and dissipating needed services for victims.

In April of 2011 the DED Office for Civil Rights issued its “Dear Colleague” letter that imposed new standards on collegiate sexual assault proceedings. The letter was issued without prior opportunity for public notice and comment.

Under the new policy, the definition of sexual assault is expanded and the defendant barred from cross-examination of the accuser. Rather than the usual “reasonable doubt” standard used in courts of law, colleges are now mandated to use the 50.1% “preponderance of evidence” standard when adjudicating claims of sexual assault.

Following release of the Directive, a number of high-profile cases have been reported across the country: http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/sex-assault/civil-liberties-took-a-beating/

— At the University of Virginia, it was announced that a student accused of rape could not be represented by legal counsel.

— At Yale University, quarterback Patrick Witt lost his opportunity to win a Rhodes Scholarship because the university convened an “informal” judicial proceeding that conducted secret deliberations. Witt was never afforded the chance to respond to the allegations made against him.

— At Brown University, the daughter of a powerful university benefactor manipulated the administration’s judicial proceedings to contrive the expulsion of a fellow male student. He later sued and settled for an undisclosed amount.

“Allegations of criminal conduct should be left to the criminal justice system,” says SAVE spokesman Michael Thompson. “The Education Department must revoke its flawed sex assault mandate and restore the presumption of innocence at colleges and universities.”

The American Association of University Professors and 12 other organizations have called for removal of the policy: http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/sex-assault/complaints/ Over 65 editorials have criticized the federal mandate as unduly restricting due process rights: http://www.saveservices.org/camp/ded-editorials/

SAVE has created a petition for persons who wish to express their dissatisfaction with the policy: www.accusingu.org.

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Accusing U. Campus False Allegations Press Release Sexual Assault Victims

PR: As Victim Credibility Dwindles, SAVE Calls on Prosecutors to File Charges in Brian Banks False Rape Case

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

As Victim Credibility Dwindles, SAVE Calls on Prosecutors to File Charges in Brian Banks False Rape Case

WASHINGTON / June 26, 2012 – One month after revelations of Wanetta Gibson’s false rape accusation, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is charging Los Angeles County prosecutors with unacceptable delay in filing perjury charges against Gibson. A vigorous prosecution of Gibson is critical to restoring the credibility of true rape victims, who often complain investigators with growing case loads don’t take their claims seriously, SAVE says.

Rape is No Joke, a victim advocacy group, has charged that “Enormous damages are done by making a false allegation of rape.” New York Post Andrea Peyser columnist laments that false accusations represent a “huge problem for future rape victims.”  And Justice Enriques has decried that “False complaints of rape necessarily impact upon the minds of jurors trying rape cases.”

Wanetta Gibson admitted to the false charge during a taped meeting with a private investigator. “No, he did not rape me,” she was quoted as saying. “I will go through with helping you, but it’s like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don’t want to have to pay it back.”

Gibson and her mother had been paid $1.5 million by the Long Beach School District following their lawsuit for allegedly failing to provide adequate protections to prevent the assault.

Despite the judge’s decision, Los Angeles County prosecutor Brentford Ferreira said there were no plans to charge Gibson, saying it would be a difficult case to prove.

“Here we have a star athlete nearly broken by a false accusation, a $1.5 million pay-out, and a woman who admitted to wrong-doing,” notes SAVE spokesman Philip Cook. “Prosecutor Ferreira’s comment represents a slap in the face to real victims whose credibility is under assault.”

The rape conviction was overturned by a Long Beach, Calif. Judge on May 24. Minutes later a tearful Banks told media representatives, “There’s more than I can describe, the things I’ve been through and the things that I’ve endured.”

June is False Allegations Awareness Month. One in 10 persons has been falsely accused of sexual assault, domestic violence, or child abuse: http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/survey/

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner abuse: www.saveservices.org

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Accusing U. Campus Press Release Sexual Assault

PR: Accusing U. Campaign Targets Dept. of Education Sex Directive

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Accusing U. Campaign Targets Dept. of Education Sex Directive

Washington, DC/February 17, 2012 – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is set to launch Accusing U., a national campaign designed to educate college students about the Department of Education’s new Sexual Assault Directive. SAVE says the Directive subverts fundamental due process rights on college campuses.

The Accusing U. campaign will be unveiled at a panel presentation to be held Saturday, February 18 at 10:00am at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC. The panel will highlight DED’s alleged anti-civil rights agenda, which affects students and professors alike.

The American Association of University Professors, National Association of Scholars, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education have all come out against the Directive (1). Over 30 editorials have criticized the mandate on civil rights grounds (2).

The erosion of civil rights of persons accused of sexual assault was highlighted in a recent Yale University case. Yale quarterback Patrick Witt, a promising candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship, saw his application blow up when The New York Times revealed he had been accused on scant evidence of sexual assault.

Because of the DED Directive, which removes the presumption of innocence, Witt was treated like a proven rapist. SAVE believes, as soon as an accusation was made, Yale felt compelled to consider him an offender.

The Education Department’s Directive requires universities to use the 51% preponderance-of-evidence standard in sexual assault claims, instead of the traditional clear-and-convincing basis to establish guilt. In the case of Patrick Witt, a single New York Times article had the effect of convicting him in the court of public opinion, according to a Wall Street Journal critique (3).

The DED has expanded the definition of rape to the point that if a woman drinks a single beer – even at her initiative – and then engages in sex, the Directive classifies the liaison as rape.

“The DED sex mandate is opening the floodgates to a tide wave of false allegations of rape. So what will happen to the credibility of real rape victims? Will they stop coming forward?” … asks SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook.

More information about the Accusing U. campaign can be seen here: www.accusingu.org

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org.

1. http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/sex-assault/complaints
2. http://www.saveservices.org/camp/ded-directive/ded-editorials
3. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204652904577195270818190282.html

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Campus Civil Rights Dating Violence Press Release Sexual Assault Violence Against Women Act

PR: Senator Drops Controversial VAWA Campus Sex Provision, But Civil Rights Violations Remain

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

 

Senator Drops Controversial VAWA Campus Sex Provision, But Civil Rights Violations Remain

Washington, DC/November 14, 2011 — As a result of criticism from Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE)  and other groups, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has dropped the controversial “preponderance of evidence” standard from his proposed Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization bill. “Because of the feedback he has received concerning this proposal, he does not plan to include it in the bill he later will introduce,” according to Erica Chabot, spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee (1).

Language in the draft bill would have required federally funded universities to apply a lower standard of proof — a 51% “preponderance” of evidence rather than the usual “clear and convincing” evidence — in cases of alleged sexual assault or domestic violence.

SAVE is thankful that the Senator decided to drop this section from his proposed bill, but other parts of the measure still contain troubling civil rights concerns:

Due Process Violations:

  • Allows for the continued funding of mandatory arrest policies, which a Harvard study found to increases in partner homicides of 60 percent.
  • One false allegation can be used to tear apart a family: VAWA is an engine for the growth of single-parent households and the demand for welfare services.

Equal Protection Violations:

  • Provides legal assistance to accusers, and at the same time, denies it for the accused.
  • Perpetuates sex-based discrimination through biased predominant aggressor policies and continues due process violations.
  • Does not distinguish between those simply making allegations and those with probable-cause evidence of violence or abuse.

These civil rights problems are explained in SAVE’s Special Report, Are Domestic Violence Policies Respecting our Fundamental Freedoms? (2).

Violations of citizens’ civil rights cannot be justified by resulting reductions in partner abuse. The Department of Justice has acknowledged, “We have no evidence to date that VAWA has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women.”

SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook says, “We congratulate Senator Leahy for removing the unacceptable ‘preponderance of evidence’ language from his bill. It shows that he is responsive to well-documented civil rights concerns. We hope that he and other Senators will now take the necessary steps to ensure that the many other problems with the proposed legislation are also addressed.”

(1)   http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20111111/NEWS03/111111020/Leahy-scraps-provision-upcoming-bill-following-complaints?odyssey=nav%7Chead

(2)   http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-Assault-Civil-Rights

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org.

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Campus False Allegations Press Release Sexual Assault Victims Violence Violence Against Women Act

PR: False Accusations of Sexual Harassment May Soar, SAVE Warns

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard

Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

False Accusations of Sexual Harassment May Soar, SAVE Warns

Washington, DC/November 8, 2011 – The National Association of Scholars recently released a position paper condemning an Education Department directive that forces colleges to remove fundamental due process protections from persons accused of sexual harassment. The statement describes the Dept. of Education mandate as “ominous,” bordering on the “surreal,” and excluding any mention of free speech.

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) position statement follows similar letters by the American Association for University Professors, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and Stop Abusive and Violent Environments: http://www.saveservices.org/falsely-accused/sex-assault/complaints/

Concerns about false allegations in society have escalated in the past week as a growing number of persons have questioned the validity of accusations by two unnamed women that GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually harassed them over 10 years ago. Leading Democratic politicians have been subjected to false allegations of sexual offenses, as well.

The Department of Education directive mandates that all colleges receiving federal funds change the usual “clear and convincing” standard to “preponderance of evidence.” This low standard requires only that 50.01 percent of the evidence be in favor of an offense having happened in order to reach a conviction.

Of greater concern, the draft of the federal Violence Against Women Act, currently being circulated by Senator Patrick Leahy, proposes to turn the Department of Education directive into statutory law. “It really is strange for a bill to delegate to a federal agency the power to lower due process protections and standards of proof. I believe that is unprecedented,” says Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“The consensus among academics is that the proposed VAWA would turn campus disciplinary committees into veritable Kangaroo Courts, thus increasing the number of false allegations by leaps and bounds,” warns SAVE spokesman Philip Cook.

A student who was wrongfully expelled by the University of North Dakota after a cavalier investigation of sexual assault charges against him is a recent example: http://www.saveservices.org/2011/10/falsely-accused-student-will-not-return-to-college-that-wrongfully-expelled-him/

Over the last 20 years, sexual harassment policies on college campuses have become increasingly neglectful of Constitutional protections, reveals the NAS. In one case, a professor of history was handed a pink slip, unaware of the accusation or of a clandestine investigation being conducted against him.

SAVE calls on Senator Leahy’s proposed Violence Against Women Act to protect the civil rights of the accused so the credibility of true victims is not diminished by trivial and non-meritorious claims.

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to partner violence: www.saveservices.org