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Obama-era school sexual assault policy rescinded


Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced Friday she was rescinding Obama-era guidance on school sexual assault, effective immediately. The agency issued a question-and-answer document to help schools navigate the highly contentious issue while a formal review is conducted.

The document allows schools to use a higher standard of proof in campus disciplinary proceedings related to sexual violence, altering one of the most hotly debated elements of the Obama-era guidance. Instead, schools can opt to use a higher standard of proof — known as “clear and convincing evidence.”

Attorneys for the accused have said too often that the Obama-mandated standard, known as “preponderance of evidence," or “more likely than not,” undermined the due process rights of the accused. That standard is lower than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard common in criminal trials.

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