Discussion: DeVos Will Detail Changes To Policy On How Colleges Handle Sexual Assault

Women who make accusations of sexual assault will henceforth be sent back to finishing school, where they’ll be taught to behave like proper ladies, and not invite groping or rape.

The finishing schools must, of course, be owned by the DeVos family.

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Oh good goddess.

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Sounds like a “He said, he said” solution may be in the offing.

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I suppose if we unpack that mess what we’ll find at the bottom of the box is a proposal to make it harder to make Biff pay the price for his crimes. I’m sure in “the interest of fairness” DeVoss will pare the requirements down in a way the strictly favors a rapist. “we’ll need to be sure” before Biff has to come to terms. “do it right” and make sure"everyone is protected". Colleges have a vested interest in covering up sexual crimes on their campuses. It makes the colleges less attractive to aspiring students and can lead to whopping law suits. No ones saying DeVoss and America’s colleges don’t give a shit about rape on campus. But they give a bit more shit about rich kids and even more about super rich kids.

The bit makes the Obama rules seem strident. They were actually reactionary. Universities were doing nothing about this problem under the “old way” so Obama tightened it up to see if he could force at least a minimal effort out of them.But again we have the Trump administration taking apart the Obama Administration and Making America Great Again by taking it backwards. Betsy DeVoss, the Amway shill, is making policy for America now.

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Betsy announces appointment as Under-secretary of Judge Aaron “six months” Persky who played Sgt. Schultz in the nationally-“rank” Brock Turner case to replace her in 5…4…3…

Hell, if she’s getting tired of the job it might be appointment to replace her.

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I guess when every campus is a sanctuary for rapists, there will be no more sanctuary campuses.

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If anyone has come up with a solution for the natural human tendencies toward bias and rush to judgment, I haven’t heard it. Combine that with hormonal young adults trying to get what they want sexually in a minefield strewn with alcohol, misread intentions, and second thoughts, and one can hardly expect satisfying outcomes for any reported or unreported cases of misconduct.

It’s not right to hold colleges responsible for the private behavior of their students. Their administrators will always choose the path of least resistance and not default to the one seeking truth and justice. Each case is different and the penalties are severe. That leaves it wide open to political opportunists on all sides – meaning those who want to score political points or press their biased points of view rather than addressing each case individually as the law requires of court proceedings.

So if Devos and the Department of Education truly analyzed all aspects of these situations and developed thoughtful rules for those institutions, I’m eager to hear them and have them discussed openly. I kind of doubt it and just as in individual cases at schools, from the comments above most people have prejudged the outcome.

Young adults go to college. Young adults also seek sexual encounters. This applies to men and women. They compete to get into college. They compete for sexual encounters. Not every outcome makes everyone happy.

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I am going to take a somewhat contrary view. This issue is far more complex and difficult than many would like to acknowledge.

Let’s start with the proposition that some men do rape women. Let’s also start with the proposition that some women falsely accuse men of rape.

Part of the problem is the definition of rape has changed. A lot of kids really don’t know where the boundaries are. That we have to have public service announcements or special training to advise guys what is rape and what is not speaks to the nebulous boundaries.

Some cases are rather troubling. What comes to mind is a college party where a girl has had too much to drink. (Part of this involves underage drinking where the kids should not have been drinking in the first place.) The girl gets flirty with a boy; or the boy hits on a girl. In either case, they end up having sex.

The girl argues she was raped because she was too intoxicated to consent to sex. The boy argues she objectively did consent and he really was not in a position to judge the level of her intoxication.

My concern is that colleges are not properly equipped to handle cases like this. You end up with a kangaroo court which does not provide procedural protections to either party, and will often consider evidence which would not be admissible in a Court of Law (and for good reason).

One of the principles of our legal system is the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt before the state can punish someone. I almost am always opposed to weakening this procedural protection. Yes, guilty guys will get away. On the other hand, this may be preferable to punishing the innocent. This is particularly true in more ambiguous situations.

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Boys will be boys and girls must submit to them? That’s not policy. It’s a crime. No thank you, Mr. Trump. and your WWE trophy secretary. We have seen enough of that from Dennie Hastert.

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Gee, I wonder if it’ll be overly protective of the accused and include value judgments about whether she was drunk or dressed like a slut…

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I’m confused. From 1972 to 2011, college assault and rape was swept under the rug. Obama offered a new plan, albeit ‘flawed’ by some measures, which allowed these crimes to come out in the open. Ms. DeVos is now advocating ‘change’ because ‘our students deserve it’??? WTF?

The severity of the punishment for sexual crimes will be inversely correlated with the ranking of the school’s football team. If the team is in the top 20, the offender will be asked not to rape anyone again, if he would please.

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Yes, rape is a crime. A felony to be exact. In a typical rape case, the perpetrator can expect a ten year sentence in the state prison.

So are you saying that just expelling the perpetrator from college is sufficient – let bygones be bygones.

One of the problems with the Obama policy is that it trivializes rape. As you say, boys will be boys. So when one of the boys rapes a girl, we just let him off with a slap on the wrist?

If it is worth pursuing, it is worth doing it right. And if a boy did rape a girl, he really should be punished for it.

Betsy’s plan being “If I keep women from getting degrees then I’ll be the smartest by default!” Another middling white woman who reeks of insecurity

It is not even surprising that DeVos is for the rapists.
She thinks the victims “wanted it” !
Just as disgusting and vile a human being as Don.

I keep thinking that if the R’s succeed in redefining rape as not-rape, it will only encourage the women to take matters into their own hands. If a woman can be Ruffied so some “good guy” can assault her, why wouldn’t said “good guy” expect to be Ruffied and assaulted in turn? I’m thinking more along the lines of castration than sodomy. Wouldn’t that set everyone’s hair on fire! I hear there are veterinary kits that are essentially a rubberband, so a trip to the hospital might save the bugger’s junk if he wakes up in time. The trauma and humiliation would certainly be just.

A serial rapist, even one who “only” preys on drunk college girls, is considered innocent unless there is video, she is screaming no! and can prove that she wasn’t just play-acting the no! part. Even then, it was probably her fault for teasing him, right? I can see where a castration kit could be considered a better solution than dealing with the directives of Betsy DeVos. Suppose the police would be as disinterested in this sort of sexual assault as they are in rape? Suppose Amazon sells those kits?

Simple solution; if a woman makes a rape accusation that is more likely false than not, her career gets ruined and her name plastered all over the headlines, just like she wants done to the man. That’s more equal.

A thoughtful and even handed response. I am shocked, shocked I tell you. Well done.

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New policy: “Boys will be boys. Sometimes they get a bit carried away, but what can you do?”