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.
GOP caps turbulent week, pointing finger at White House for immigration bill blunder
Army cuts helicopters, pushes ‘Amazon for war’ as drone combat reshapes military
Massive SPLC-linked grant under fire as watchdog exposes ties to middle school programs
DOJ bolsters South Florida team investigating alleged anti-Trump conspiracy
Fox News True Crime Newsletter: Alex Murdaugh’s new defense, Luigi Mangione’s decision, Tyler Robinson’s fight
Rep. Tom Kean Jr. says he expects to return to Congress ‘in the next couple of weeks’ after missing 100 votes
Teen suspect tied to 12 attacks in chaotic Austin shooting spree identified as illegal alien
More than 300 arrested in sprawling California crackdown on child exploitation crimes
Former US attorney charged with felony hit-and-run after Houston crash, police say
Plan for Trump’s ‘Triumphal Arch’ Clears Another Important Hurdle with DC Commission Approval
Texas congressional candidate claims she never called for ‘internment camps’ after party leaders condemn her
UK Cops Handcuffed Dying Stabbing Victim for Racially Insulting Sikh Who Allegedly Stabbed Him
Watch: ‘Survivor’ Host’s Awkward Blunder During Live Finale Spoils Results
Breaking: NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch Dead at Age 41
DHS touts millions of illegal immigrant departures as border crossings drop 94% under Trump
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.
GOP caps turbulent week, pointing finger at White House for immigration bill blunder
Army cuts helicopters, pushes ‘Amazon for war’ as drone combat reshapes military
Massive SPLC-linked grant under fire as watchdog exposes ties to middle school programs
DOJ bolsters South Florida team investigating alleged anti-Trump conspiracy
Fox News True Crime Newsletter: Alex Murdaugh’s new defense, Luigi Mangione’s decision, Tyler Robinson’s fight
Rep. Tom Kean Jr. says he expects to return to Congress ‘in the next couple of weeks’ after missing 100 votes
Teen suspect tied to 12 attacks in chaotic Austin shooting spree identified as illegal alien
More than 300 arrested in sprawling California crackdown on child exploitation crimes
Former US attorney charged with felony hit-and-run after Houston crash, police say
Plan for Trump’s ‘Triumphal Arch’ Clears Another Important Hurdle with DC Commission Approval
Texas congressional candidate claims she never called for ‘internment camps’ after party leaders condemn her
UK Cops Handcuffed Dying Stabbing Victim for Racially Insulting Sikh Who Allegedly Stabbed Him
Watch: ‘Survivor’ Host’s Awkward Blunder During Live Finale Spoils Results
Breaking: NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch Dead at Age 41
DHS touts millions of illegal immigrant departures as border crossings drop 94% under Trump
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.
