Former Vice President Joe Biden is promising to scrap newly proposed guidelines by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos meant to ensure that individuals being accused of sexual misconduct on college campuses receive due process.
Biden, who most notably led the Obama administration’s “It’s On Us” campaign as vice president, criticized the education secretary on Wednesday for making college campuses “less safe.” In particular, the former vice president claimed DeVos’s “new rule gives colleges a green light to ignore sexual violence and strip survivors of their rights.”
“Survivors deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced,” Biden said in a statement.
The statement came shortly after Devos and the Department of Education announced new regulations mandating that colleges and universities give individuals accused of sexual misconduct formal complaints, which are to be adjudicated in a courtroom-like setting.
Explosion rocks Dallas apartment building as massive fire sends black smoke into sky, at least 4 injured
A-List Hollywood Actor Explains Why He’s Backing Spencer Pratt for LA Mayor: ‘Just Look Around’
Police Rush to Amy Coney Barrett’s House After Receiving Troubling 911 Call
Top Democrat shuts down 2028 White House speculation: ‘I will not be one of them’
Socialist Zohran Mamdani launches Elon Musk-style ‘COGE’ chaired by Soros-aligned Dem
FBI seizes record-setting $8 billion in cryptocurrency amid intercontinental ‘scam compound’ crackdown
Federal HR office pulls back curtain on sweeping NDA plan aimed at curbing government leaks
US and Iran reach ceasefire extension deal pending Trump’s final approval
Breaking: US and Iran Reportedly Reach Peace Agreement Pending Trump’s Approval
Husband’s phone GPS data prompts feds to search 25-foot-deep Bahamian waters for Lynette Hooker: sources
Judge hands Trump mail-ballot win for now as Democrats’ next move looms
Another One: Male LGBT Activist Arrested After Admitting Abusive Plan for 13-Year-Old Boy
1994 NBA Finals Clip Resurfaces Showing Trump at Knicks Game After Hochul Questioned His Fandom
US Military Prepared to Strike Cuba at Moment’s Notice: ‘When POTUS Says Go, We’re Ready’
Clarence Thomas puts Dems on clock as Alabama GOP emergency map bid stalled
Under prior Obama administration guidelines, colleges were allowed to use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard when determining the guilt of those accused. Such regulations often led to lawsuits alleging the infringement of civil liberties, as many of the accused were not allowed to cross-examine witnesses.
Devos’s new regulations will allow representatives for not only victims but also the accused to call witnesses and challenge evidence. Such hearings, which will be either conducted in-person or virtually, will have to now to rely on a “clear and convincing” standard, rather than just a “preponderance of the evidence.” When investigating complaints, colleges will also have to rely on trained personnel to evaluate evidence and make final decisions.
The former vice president said on Wednesday:
Trump’s Education Department … is trying to shame and silence survivors, and take away parents’ peace of mind… as President, I’ll be … on the side of survivors, who deserve to have their voices heard, their claims taken seriously and investigated, and their rights upheld.
Biden’s attack on DeVos and the Trump administration comes as the former vice president, himself, is under fire and facing accusations of sexual assault.
Explosion rocks Dallas apartment building as massive fire sends black smoke into sky, at least 4 injured
A-List Hollywood Actor Explains Why He’s Backing Spencer Pratt for LA Mayor: ‘Just Look Around’
Police Rush to Amy Coney Barrett’s House After Receiving Troubling 911 Call
Top Democrat shuts down 2028 White House speculation: ‘I will not be one of them’
Socialist Zohran Mamdani launches Elon Musk-style ‘COGE’ chaired by Soros-aligned Dem
FBI seizes record-setting $8 billion in cryptocurrency amid intercontinental ‘scam compound’ crackdown
Federal HR office pulls back curtain on sweeping NDA plan aimed at curbing government leaks
US and Iran reach ceasefire extension deal pending Trump’s final approval
Breaking: US and Iran Reportedly Reach Peace Agreement Pending Trump’s Approval
Husband’s phone GPS data prompts feds to search 25-foot-deep Bahamian waters for Lynette Hooker: sources
Judge hands Trump mail-ballot win for now as Democrats’ next move looms
Another One: Male LGBT Activist Arrested After Admitting Abusive Plan for 13-Year-Old Boy
1994 NBA Finals Clip Resurfaces Showing Trump at Knicks Game After Hochul Questioned His Fandom
US Military Prepared to Strike Cuba at Moment’s Notice: ‘When POTUS Says Go, We’re Ready’
Clarence Thomas puts Dems on clock as Alabama GOP emergency map bid stalled
Late last month, Tara Reade, who came forward in April 2019 to accuse the former vice president of unwanted touching and sexual harassment, revealed there was more to her story. Reade now claims he pushed her up against a wall and forcibly penetrated her with his fingers, while she was briefly employed by his Senate office in the early 1990s.
The accusation has been difficult to corroborate given that nearly 30 years have passed since it supposedly took place. As such, Reade has sought to make public the sexual harassment complaint she allegedly filed in 1993, especially as former Biden staffers claim no such document exists.
Reade, for her part, has contended that not only does the complaint exist, but it is likely within the thousands of Senate documents the former vice president donated to the University of Delaware in 2011.
Story cited here.
