� Morning Thread (1-4-2016) | Main | Monday Morning News Dump � Why Is Marco Rubio Working With Democrats To Weaken Due Process On College Campuses? Marco Rubio regularly is attacked for his leadership on the Gang of 8 amnesty bill. But that doesn't mean there aren't others where is legislative instincts are troubling. For example, when Democrats like Claire McCaskil and Kirsten Gillibrand went looking for a Republican co-sponsor for their bill to further erode the due process rights of college students charged with sexual assault, they found wiling partners in...Marco Rubio and Kelly Ayotte. With key Republicans along for the ride, McCaskill and Gillibrand produced a bill designed to advance the administration�s agenda. Its language presumes the guilt of all students accused of sexual assault by repeatedly calling accusers who have not yet substantiated their claims �victims,� without the critical qualifier �alleged.� CASA would also order colleges to provide a �confidential advisor� for these �victims,� with no comparable help for the accused. And it would require universities to publish data on the outcomes of their campus sexual-assault cases (which only Yale does now), apparently in the hope that doing so will invite Title IX complaints against any college that finds an insufficient number of accused students guilty. Further, McCaskill has said that CASA, by making adjudication processes uniform for all institutions, is designed to help �remove the underpinning of . . . lawsuits� by accused students who say they were railroaded. No wonder McCaskill believes that �victims� might see themselves as �better off doing the Title IX process� than going through the criminal-justice system. The Washington Examiner�s Ashe Schow asked each sponsoring senator�s office how CASA would ensure due process for accused students. An Ayotte spokesperson declined to answer Schow�s questions, justifying the senator�s co-sponsorship by repeating the canard that one in five college women is sexually assaulted. A Rubio spokesperson replied, �This bill does not address this issue.� When asked whether college officials or law enforcement would have the most authority to investigate allegations, the spokesperson responded: �The victim will have the most authority.� This reflected (at best) an astonishing misunderstanding both of the need for impartial adjudication of such serious charges and of the fact that at the investigative stage there is no �victim�; there are an accuser and an accused. Emphasis mine. That quote from Rubio's spokesperson is incredible. It's the kind of thing you expect to hear from Hillary Clinton or Rubio's new legislative partner Kirsten "I Believe Mattress Girl" Gillibrand. Read the whole article. It's not just about Rubio but the cowardice of almost every Republican in Congress to stand up to the Obama administration's efforts to strip college students, mostly men, of basic legal protections. It's especially worth reading the exchange between Lamar Alexander (who believe it or not is on the right side of this) with a haughty Obama appointee who thinks she has the power railroad accused students. And before Rubio supporters claim this is just a political hit, note who the co-authors of the story are and that it appears in the Rubio friendly National Review. The authors of this article are not partisan critics. One of us is an independent, the other a Democrat who twice voted for Obama and donated to his presidential campaign. But when the president and his party go rogue, it is the duty of the loyal opposition to blow the whistle and fight back. I'm not sure if he's the independent or the Democrat but one of the two is KC Johnson, the professor who was instrumental in exposing the Duke rape hoax. I'm not holding my breath waiting for other candidates, like Ted Cruz who speaks so often and eloquently about the Constitution, to stand up to the proponents of star chamber show trials. It doesn't speak well for them but if they do they will no doubt be tarred as "supporting rapists" and engaging in "a war on women". Maybe even by Rubio himself. Let's not deny that it doesn't speak well for any of them if they refuse to take a stand. Personally though, I'll take my chances with candidates that have shown hostility and contempt for Obama's worldview over those who have repeatedly worked with those in Congress who wish to codify it.

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