SANITY: Vast majority of Democratic voters support due process for accused students.

There appears to be a wide rift between federal Democratic lawmakers and the voters who put them in office on the question of investigating campus sexual assault.

In contrast to two thirds of Senate Democrats, who denounced Education Secretary Betsy DeVos* for rescinding previous Title IX guidance that gave short shrift to due process, two thirds of Democratic voters believe students accused of “crimes” should receive “the same civil liberties protections” in campus proceedings as they do in courts.

The YouGov survey commissioned by the Bucknell University Institute for Public Policy was conducted in mid-summer, before Education Secretary Betsy DeVos* announced three weeks ago the guidance would be rescinded and released interim guidance last week.

Though both self-identified Republicans and independents supported common due process protections at higher rates, the gaps between them and Democrats were all under 15 percentage points.

Strong majorities of Democrats believe students accused of sexual assault “should have the right to know the charges against them before being called to defend themselves” (80 percent) and punished only if there is “clear and convincing evidence that they are guilty of a crime” (67 percent).

Even a majority (58 percent) believe accused students should have the right to cross-examine their accusers.

To be fair, Dem lawmakers are all for due process when they’re the ones accused.