Assaulting Due Process

The Internet recently exploded in outrage — what else is new, but understandably so this time — over a father’s description of his son’s attempted rape of an unconscious woman as “20 minutes of action.” DNA evidence and witnesses ultimately led to the son’s conviction.

Evidence, witnesses, a trial — all critical components of due process. Except when Barack Obama appoints himself judge and jury.

It seems Obama isn’t content with forcing every school in America to allow individuals suffering from gender disorientation pathology to use the restroom of their choice. Now he wants to end constitutional due process for sexual assault allegations on college campuses — at least what little protections are left.

This spring, the Obama administration began sending letters to colleges “suggesting” they should punish those accused of assault before any investigation and even in the absence of any evidence.

Certainly, assault accusations must not be taken lightly. However, as we’ve previously noted, not everyone who cries rape is telling the truth. Just remember the Duke lacrosse case, the University of Virginia Rolling Stone debacle, and Columbia University’s “mattress girl.” These cases all highlight the reason our legal system holds someone innocent until proven guilty.

Unless Obama has his way.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, it all began in in 2011, when the Department of Education decided that Title IX, which bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds, also means schools can lose funding if they rely on “clear and convincing” evidence in addressing assault allegations rather than on a mere “preponderance of the evidence.”

Of course, inventing new meanings of laws is hardly a new undertaking for this administration, which also pointed to Title IX as the basis for creating “gender identity” as a protected class.

Still, fast forward five years, and the administration is reinventing the law yet again, essentially telling schools Title IX also demands they treat anyone accused of assault as public enemy number one, before any adjudication process and even without a smidgeon of evidence. In other words, if a jilted girlfriend wants revenge, all she has to do is cry — or anonymously allege — “rape” and her word is the judge and jury. Apparently, basic standards of justice are too demanding for college coeds to handle.

The administration’s latest threats stem from a Social Justice™ Department investigation into the the University of New Mexico’s process for handling assault allegations. DOJ faulted UNM for “failure to provide effective interim safety measures,” which, as the Journal explains, “are imposed on an accused student before any official ruling on guilt” and can include things like provisional suspensions, no-contact orders, limitations on library and dining hall use, evictions from dorms, etc.

While this sounds reasonable if someone poses an imminent threat, DOJ actually cried foul over UNM’s granting graduate school admission to someone accused of assault while the investigation was still underway. In another case, DOJ chided UNM because a student felt “powerless and destroyed” after the person whom she accused was cleared and returned to the university. Apparently, she was missing her safe space.

While the administration’s “guidance” theoretically doesn’t carry the weight of regulations, what’s a technicality to a president who believes himself omnipotent? As the Journal notes, “Some 228 colleges and universities are under investigation for Title IX violations, and complaints to the Education Department’s Title IX office have increased 502% over four years. Either the Vikings are invading U.S. campuses or Title IX has become a political weapon.”

Of course, Obama wouldn’t have such ready entrée into college campus sex lives if sex didn’t have such a ready entrée into college students' lives. With sex now considered by most young people as little more than a top-off to a good first date, and marriage declining in importance, it’s little wonder that accusations of sexual assault often fly. Actual assault may very well be up, too. Maybe the “free love” Baby Boomers brought us has some consequences after all.

Still, it’s getting more and more difficult to find an area where this administration hasn’t tried to weaponize the government. From the IRS and HHS to the EPA, DHS, DOJ, and now Title IX, Obama will use any and every means to grab power and build Democrat constituencies. College campuses may be his latest stage for ditching the Constitution. But he’s already shown he’ll play this part on any stage he can.