DeVos's new Title IX rules emphasize due process and formal mediation

[PeteS in CA]

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/education/devoss-new-title-ix-rules-emphasize-due-process-and-formal-mediation

DeVos's new Title IX rules emphasize due process and formal mediation
By Sophie Mann
Last Updated: May 6, 2020 - 3:10pm

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday released the final set of rules and regulations for how public and private schools and colleges navigate allegations of sexual misconduct. The final guidelines put an emphasis on due process and the rights of the accused.
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... DeVos’s initial proposal would have allowed students to cross-examine one another, which now will be limited to advisers and lawyers of the involved parties.

Included in the changes to the rules and regulations are a narrowed definition of sexual harassment and a requirement that colleges conduct live hearings, during which alleged victims and accused perpetrators are allowed to be cross-examined.
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The rules mandate that schools should dismiss complaints that do not meet the definition of sexual harassment.

The rules also strengthen the bureaucratic process by which a complaint is brought, making it so that schools are  required only to investigate cases reported through formal channels.

The new rules also basically forbid the investigator being the prosecutor, judge, and jury. IMO, allowing a "preponderance of the evidence" standard is a mistake through which colleges will drive convoys of trucks.


https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/05/06/betsy-devoss-new-title-ix-rules-reject-the-kavanaugh-standard-on-sexual-assault-n388674

Betsy DeVos's New Title IX Rules Reject the 'Kavanaugh Standard' on Sexual Assault
BY TYLER O'NEIL  MAY 06, 2020 4:12 PM EST

Lawyer Naomi Shatz went through DeVos’s new rules and found some encouraging changes.

“Title IX coordinators and investigators cannot have a bias for or against complainants or respondents generally. This is big. Many Title IX claims have failed in court because courts decided that bias for/against complainants/respondents wasn’t sex discrimination,” Shatz noted.
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Under the new rules, the accused also has the right to “inspect and review any evidence obtained during the investigation that directly relates to the allegations raised, including evidence that the school does not intend to rely on in reaching its decision.” Schools must also give both parties ten days to review the evidence — an important reversal of the current practice where many schools only allow the parties to review evidence in a specific location.

[PeteS in CA]

Predictably:

https://news.yahoo.com/aclu-sues-betsy-devos-over-194951672.html

ACLU sues Betsy DeVos over new campus sexual assault rules

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' revised federal guidelines on how sexual assault allegations should be handled on college and K-12 campuses is the target of a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, claiming the changes would "inflict significant harm" on victims and "dramatically undermine" their civil rights.

The suit, filed on behalf of four advocacy groups for sexual assault survivors, including Know Your IX and Girls for Gender Equity, is the first that attempts to block the Department of Education's new provisions before they go into effect on Aug. 14.

The rules championed by DeVos effectively bolster the rights of due process for those accused of sexual assault and harassment, allowing for live hearings and cross examinations. It's what agency officials say was lacking under the Obama administration to protect all students under Title IX, a 1972 law that prohibits gender discrimination, including sexual assault, at schools.

Well, this legal BS should postpone this improvement in accused students' due process rights for another two years.