DOG BITES MAN: Activists, Democrats, and the Media Keep Smearing Betsy DeVos Over New Title IX Rules. “Misleading reporting makes due process sound like a bad thing.”

The worst example is an article from Abbey Crain, whose article at Alabama.com makes several significant errors.

“Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ proposed changes for how schools handle Title IX cases would allow students accused of sexual assault to cross-examine their victim,” writes Crain.

This is simply untrue. The new rules specify that an accused student’s lawyer or support person must conduct the cross-examination.

“The rules would create a higher burden of proof for victims of sexual assault to prove a Title IX violation occurred,” Crain continues, “removing Obama-era regulations that required a ‘preponderance of the evidence.'”

This isn’t quite right either: Colleges may use a higher burden of proof than the preponderance of the evidence, but it’s not mandatory.

Crain then turns the article over to Madeline Anscombe, a victims’ rights activist who claims the changes would “limit ways students who are sexually assaulted could seek justice.”

But the new rules give students more options for seeking justice. The permit accusers who do not wish to undergo the full-court treatment to seek informal resolution, mediation, restorative justice, or any other option that satisfies both parties. “At any time prior to reaching a determination regarding responsibility the recipient may facilitate an informal resolution process, such as mediation, that does not involve a full investigation and adjudication,” the new rules state.

Perhaps the Title IX activist community wants everyone accused of sexual misconduct to be subjected to life-ruining sanction, but I get the sense that some victims are not actually keen on such an outcome.

Actual victims ought to be fine with this. Women who lie about rape, less so.