DeVos has proposed new protections for students charged with assault

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposed a major overhaul of how colleges and universities handle complaints of sexual misconduct, adding protections to students accused of assault and abuse. harassment and limiting the cases in which schools would be required to investigate.

His plan would reduce the important rules of the Obama administration while adding mandates that could reshape school-based systems of school discipline over the last decade.

According to the proposed new plan on Friday, colleges would only have to investigate complaints if the alleged incident occurred on campus or in other areas monitored by the school and only under certain circumstances. It had been reported to some officials. On the other hand, the current rules require colleges to review all student complaints, regardless of their location or the way in which they attracted the attention of the school.

He adds several provisions supported by groups representing students accused of sexual misconduct. Among the principals, it is said that the accused students must be able to interrogate their accusers, though it is through the intermediary of a representative in order to avoid personal confrontations.

The proposal effectively tells schools how to enforce the 1972 Title IX Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in schools receiving federal money. This applies not only to colleges and universities, but also to primary and secondary schools.

According to the Department of Education, this proposal ensures the fairness of the accusations of students on both sides, while allowing schools the opportunity to support victims even if they do not file a formal complaint or request an investigation.

"We can and must condemn sexual violence and punish those who commit it, while guaranteeing a fair grievance procedure," DeVos said in a statement. "These ideas are not mutually exclusive. That's the essence of how Americans understand that justice works. "

For years, schools have used a series of letters from the Obama administration telling them how to respond to complaints. Steps can lead to federal investigations that often last for years, with penalties up to the total loss of federal funding.

Victim Advocacy Groups say that President Obama's rules have forced schools to stop dealing with the problem under the carpet, while those who support the accused students have said it tipped the scales in favor of the accusers. Some colleges complained that the rules were too complex and could be too cumbersome.

DeVos echoed the criticism of the rules when she canceled two orientation letters in September 2017, stating that "the era of the" rule by letter "" was over. Instead, it released the 150-page proposal on Friday, which will go through a 60-day public comment process before it can be finalized.

Legal experts say this could significantly reduce the number of complaints that are investigated by schools. Saunie Schuster, a lawyer who advises a large number of colleges, says the vast majority of complaints come from campuses and that schools would no longer need to be dealt with, though colleges could still go to- beyond the minimum requirements.

DeVos' plan is also likely to reduce the measures taken by the Department of Education, which can penalize schools for failing to comply with Title IX. The proposal raises the bar to prove this failure, saying schools must be "deliberately indifferent" to be held legally accountable.

On Friday, the Department of Education said it was investigating 387 complaints under Title IX regarding sexual harassment or violence at the college level, as well as 296 in primary and secondary schools.

Catherine Lhamon, who headed the US Department of Education's Civil Rights Division and helped develop the existing rules, told the Associated Press that the new proposal was "devastating" and would bring schools back into "A very dark period".

"It would encourage schools to put their heads in the sand," she said. "This promises to schools that if they follow very little specific steps, they can not be held responsible for the non-compliance with Title IX, and this creates a surprisingly low number of expectations."

Virginia's Bobby Scott, the House of Representatives' largest Democrat on Education and Labor, urged DeVos to abandon this proposal, which he called "a damaging setback for our harassment prevention efforts." and sexual assault on campus. "

Other opponents expressed concern that fewer victims would report assaults under the new rules, and that more would simply drop out of school.

But supporters say the proposal does a better job of providing equal treatment to all students. They praised the rules that both parties should be able to review evidence gathered by the school and that both parties would have the same choice to bring a lawyer or other counsel to hearings on the campus.

"I do not think it is incoherent to put in place a serious due process for the accused students and to take the victims' claims seriously – and to rule them fairly," said Samantha Harris, vice-president of advocacy procedures at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. , a civil liberties group in Philadelphia.

Families defending campus rights, Equality, a group that supports the accused students, saw the proposal as a victory, including requiring schools to weigh in at a live cross-examination hearing.

"You do not want respondents or complainants to meet, I do not think it's appropriate," said Cynthia Garrett, co-chair of the group. "But having a lawyer who can do that will go a lot further by helping decision makers get accurate results."

Some colleges, including the University of Wisconsin, Yale University and the California University System, issued statements Friday stating that they would remain committed to preventing sexual violence, regardless of the changes made.

Among other changes, the proposal restricts the definition of sexual harassment. While the previous guidelines defined it as "unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature", the new proposal defines it as unwelcome sexual behavior that is so serious that it prevents the victim from having access to the school or its programs.

It allows schools to use a higher level of proof when weighing cases. Obama's guidelines have encouraged schools to use a "preponderance of evidence" standard, which means that the claim is "more likely than not". The new proposal would allow a 'clear and convincing' standard, which means that demand is highly likely.

Although the victims do not file a formal complaint, the proposal encourages schools to take various measures to help them continue their studies: counseling, changing the class schedule, re-assigning dormitories and prohibition orders. contacts for those accused of harming them.