Bernie Sanders: college sexual assault cases should be handled by police

[Tennis]

Sexual assault cases on college campuses should be handled by the police, Bernie Sanders said on Monday, a controversial position for many activists, who argue that victims should be able to make that choice for themselves.

“Rape and assault is rape and assault whether it takes place on campus or on a dark street,” the Democratic presidential candidate told the Iowa Brown and Black Forum, a presidential forum focused on minority issues. “And if a student rapes a fellow student, that has got to be understood to be a very serious crime. It has got to get outside of the school and have a police investigation.”

The federal law Title IX requires that colleges investigate reports of sexual harassment and assault, whether the police are involved or not. But it does not mandate that such allegations are reported to the police.

Sanders claimed that schools are treating sexual assault like “a student issue”, rather than “a serious crime”.

“You are seeing now the real horror of many women who have been assaulted or raped, sitting in a classroom alongside somebody who raped them,” the Democratic candidate said. “Rape is a very, very serious crime and it has to be prosecuted. It has to be dealt with.”

In the past, activists have expressed distrust about police involvement in sexual assault investigations. Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, a group that works to “expand women’s rights”, said in a statement that “police and prosecutors routinely fail survivors of sexual assault” and that “just two of every 100 perpetrators of sexual violence ever see a day behind bars”.

She said that Sanders’s answer “fails to acknowledge the reality many survivors face”, and his solution would “hurt rather than help survivors”.

“Sexual assault isn’t just a crime, it’s a civil rights violation, and schools are required by law to address it,” she said. “The decision about whether or not to report an assault to law enforcement should be entirely up to the survivor.”

A survey conducted by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence and advocacy group Know Your IX found that 90% of survivors said they would like to have the choice as to whether to report their attack and to whom to report it. Seventy-nine percent believed that if speaking to the police was mandatory, it “could have a chilling effect on reporting”.

Alexandra Brodsky, co-founder of Know Your IX, wrote an article on Feministing arguing that schools are in a better position to assist survivors than the police are in some instances.

“An extension on a paper due the week after an assault might make the difference between a victim staying in school and dropping out. No police force can provide that kind of accommodation,” she wrote. “Don’t want victims ‘sitting in a classroom alongside somebody who raped them’? A school can often make that happen more quickly than a student can get a restraining order, particularly if he or she has trouble accessing a court.”

Thomas said that Sanders “can and must do better” and suggested he “meet with survivors, hear from them directly, and then work to develop a more comprehensive plan to deal with this serious issue”.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...t-cases-police

I agree. It's time to throw the book at these perpetrators. Women shouldn't have to be scared to walk home at night when they're going to a university or college.

[Wells]

Basically yeah. I can understand why colleges ramped up their actions when they felt the police weren't doing enough to keep students safe, but its the wrong way to handle it.

[Tijuana]

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...t-cases-police

I agree. It's time to throw the book at these perpetrators. Women shouldn't have to be scared to walk home at night when they're going to a university or college.

I agree. It's time to stop punishing the accused without due process. Students shouldn't have to be scared to walk home at night, for fear of being falsely accused of rape.

[Deleted]

they're not handled by the police?

[Endus]

I really don't understand why it WOULDN'T be. It should be a two-pronged process; the criminal charges go through the police. However, the school is also able to make decisions and take action based on their own interpretations, particularly given that a decision not to prosecute or a "not guilty" verdict are not declarations of innocence on the part of the accused. The one shouldn't have anything to do with the other, besides a guilty verdict being confirmation of guilt for the school's decisions (probably rendered moot by the sentence that results, anyway).

[Tennis]

I agree. It's time to stop punishing the accused without due process. Students shouldn't have to be scared to walk home at night, for fear of being falsely accused of rape.

Students? Men aren't scared to walk home at night. Women are.

[Easo]

they're not handled by the police?

Same question. Colleges have no legal power (?).

[sarahtasher]

Before answering this thread, for the sake of human decency, I ask the usual suspect to do the following thing.

Before typing, pause for a second and ask yourself ''what I said last thread about migrants and Koln ?''

[Cosmic Janitor]

I really don't understand why it WOULDN'T be. It should be a two-pronged process; the criminal charges go through the police. However, the school is also able to make decisions and take action based on their own interpretations, particularly given that a decision not to prosecute or a "not guilty" verdict are not declarations of innocence on the part of the accused. The one shouldn't have anything to do with the other, besides a guilty verdict being confirmation of guilt for the school's decisions (probably rendered moot by the sentence that results, anyway).

Ah, I was with you until you proposed a second justice system in the hands of people who have no business to pass their own judgement.

But then lol #rapeculture and tennisace thread.

[Tijuana]

Students? Men aren't scared to walk home at night. Women are.

Men on a university campus, alone at night, with no verifiable alibi should absolutely be scared of false accusations.

[Pengalor]

I really don't understand why it WOULDN'T be. It should be a two-pronged process; the criminal charges go through the police. However, the school is also able to make decisions and take action based on their own interpretations, particularly given that a decision not to prosecute or a "not guilty" verdict are not declarations of innocence on the part of the accused. The one shouldn't have anything to do with the other, besides a guilty verdict being confirmation of guilt for the school's decisions (probably rendered moot by the sentence that results, anyway).

So you believe a university should take action when a guilty verdict couldn't be proven in a court of law? Even though the court has a higher threshold for evidence? In other words, universities should make decisions based on little to no evidence and the accuser's word, in your opinion?

[Mandrace]

On this I will agree, no one should be above the punishment of the law, even for students in any sort of education institute. Saying it is a "student-issue' is just another form for the criminals (animals) to feel secure in their acts, it's an act of knowing they don't have real professionals hunting their ass down.

[May90]

There is police on our campus patrolling at nights, and they also offer a free escort to anyone after, I believe, 10 PM. All rape accusations are also handled by the police, as far as I know. I thought it was a common practice nowadays.

[Underverse]

I agree. This way, false accusations will actually need evidence.

[Endus]

So you believe a university should take action when a guilty verdict couldn't be proven in a court of law? Even though the court has a higher threshold for evidence? In other words, universities should make decisions based on little to no evidence and the accuser's word, in your opinion?

You can be expelled from primary/secondary schools for behaviour that isn't criminal, too. This is no different. Criminal courts have a "beyond a reasonable doubt" expectation, but even civil courts don't need to meet that standard of evidence, let alone other institutions.

Their decision only affects that student's enrollment at the school in question.

[Pengalor]

You can be expelled from primary/secondary schools for behaviour that isn't criminal, too. This is no different. Criminal courts have a "beyond a reasonable doubt" expectation, but even civil courts don't need to meet that standard of evidence, let alone other institutions.

Their decision only affects that student's enrollment at the school in question.

But when is it ever about their 'behavior'? It's an accusation of rape, not an accusation of 'this guy is creepy/mean'. What you're asking is only going to end in innocent people being expelled because 'it's better for the environment of the students'.

[Dystemper]

Students? Men aren't scared to walk home at night. Women are.

How do you know men are not scared?

[Tijuana]

How do you know men are not scared?

My campus was kind of spooky at night. Old buildings, low light, big trees...

[Dystemper]

Is the OP implying that men are never sexually assaulted? I am more shocked that this was not another USA bashing thread from the OP

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Just think about the Duke La cross players. They had their lives ruined over false accusations. And that article in Rolling stone?
I think if a woman levels false sexual abuse charges against someone, she should charged with a felony and spend a minimum of 5 years in prison.

[Sunseeker]

There's a lot of problems with the statements I'm seeing by activists in campus. I get what they're saying, but at the same time, schools have no due process of any sort. Decisions are moderated behind closed doors often on nothing more than the statements of the victim. Punishments are inconsistent, ranging from nothing to expulsion. And the idea that only the victim should be allowed to report the crime is absolutely absurd. Especially if the school is going to punish someone for the crime.

Universities are in a position to act quickly, but that doesn't mean they should as acting quickly can also lead to acting rashly. The schools should require a higher burden of proof than hearsay.