FINALLY A BILL for Due Process. Missouri Students Will See Charges/Evidence Against Them
A St. Louis billionaire is leading the fight to transform the way Missouri universities handle sexual assault cases. The Missouri Campus Due Process Coalition is conducting polling to measure support of the House and Senate bills that would revise the way universities handle sexual harassment and assault claims. For instance, both the Senate and House bills would allow the accused to see the evidence against them and ban schools from declining to consider evidence. Sponsors say both bills will be amended before any final action. But as currently drafted:
▪ Both versions say that if the administrative courts find that a student was not given due process, a student can sue his or her university and the employees who conducted the investigation. The state attorney general would also be able to investigate and punish universities.
▪ The Senate version would allow those accused of sexual misconduct to personally sue whoever accused them if the administrative courts decide it was a false claim.
Sponsors of the bill argue there’s a lack of basic fairness and due process for those accused of sexual harassment or assault at school, so they’re doing right by everybody. “It is a safeguard for due process,” said Rep. Dean Dohrman sponsor of the House bill. “We want to make sure that if a complaint is brought forward it’s taken seriously, that the truth is discovered and that everybody is confident in the resolution at the end,” adding that they’re working with higher education groups and others to learn more about the issue and improve upon the bill. “We want to protect the integrity of both parties, the accused and the accusers.”
kansascity.government By E. McKinley
