Leahy Bill Would Turn Every College Male into a Rape Suspect, Group Warns

Washington, DC/October 27, 2011 – Senator Patrick Leahy’s proposed Violence Against Women Act reauthorization would trample upon the due process rights of college students, according to Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The bill would make into law the Department of Education’s recently issued guidelines that reduce the standard of proof in sexual assault cases to the controversial “preponderance of evidence” level. That unusually low standard requires only that 50.01 percent of the evidence be in favor of an assault having happened. SAVE previously requested the Department