Former NY Lieut Gov on Governor Cuomo on Rape

For John, BLUF:  Sex is a negotiation, even for married couples.  Do we want the lawyers there?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Frankly, my middle Brother thinks I am an ass for my questioning stance regarding sexual assault on campus.  He is in the camp of those who say believe the accuser, always.

I am in the camp of due process and the idea that people should not put themselves into positions from which recovery can not be effected.  For example, don't drink to excess.  Draw hard lines.  And feminism means women who are strong and responsible.

Well, along comes former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey, and in an article in The Washington Examiner she is heard blasting current Governor Andrew Cuomo.  Here is the article, "Former NY lieutenant governor blasts campus sexual assault policies"

Betsy McCaughey, the former lieutenant governor of New York under Gov. George Pataki, has taken current Gov. Andrew Cuomo to task for his “toughest in the nation” proposal for campus sexual assault policies.

“It would make campuses in New York a hostile environment for young men,” McCaughey wrote in the New York Post.  “One misstep and they could find themselves accused of ‘sexual assault,’ denied a fair hearing, expelled and unemployable.”

She also said Cuomo’s proposal, which introduces “affirmative consent” to private colleges, “criminalizes normal sexual interactions.”  Affirmative consent requires a “conscious and voluntary agreement” that is “ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time.”  This means a person must ask for consent at every step of the sexual encounter, from the first kiss through the end.  And revoking consent at any time has come to mean even after the encounter has ended. . . .

“Affirmative consent is dangerous enough, but Cuomo would also deny accused students due process,” McCaughey wrote.  “What goes on in a dark dorm room is usually one student’s word against another’s.”

She also described the bill’s use of the word “victim” or “survivor” as a “bias that the accuser is always right.”

McCaughey says the real problem on college campuses is alcohol abuse, which should be the focus of any college policy – not “stripping college men of their legal rights and criminalizing dorm-room hook-ups.”

I hear few talk about the social change that could evolve from changes in the way we deal with rape accusations on campus.  A few high profile cases could change our conduct across the fruited plain.  We need to think about where we are going.  Not that we should sacrifice women who have been sexually assaulted, abused or mistreated.  Rape is rape and needs to be prosecuted in courts of law.  What we should not do is take it out of the courts and then lower the standards for finding the accused guilty.  Further, we should ask all parties to take responsibility for their actions.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Ms McCaughey may have been the original source for the accusation of "death panels" regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, per Wikipedia.