From bad to worse: Competitive Enterprise attorney Hans Bader examines the implications of proposed revisions to the Violence Against Women Act, currently in re-authorization review in the US Senate. Among other things, the revisions would further weaken the due process protections of the accused in campus sexual harassment cases, including the prospect of double jeopardy following an aquittal. That's because the accuser would have the right of appeal as well, which would essentialy require re-prosecution of the case. On the face of it, the changes apparently codify some of the worst aspects of the new, mandatory guidelines imposed last year by the Dept. of Education's Office for Civil Rights.
And as Bader notes, even if the proposed changes are defeated in the House, all of the VAWA's already problematical features will still be there. I guess it's good news though, if an already bad law isn't made even worse.
