Justice demands the truth

We find ourselves in rare agreement with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy Devos. And, perhaps less surprisingly, with Christine Blasey Ford.

Ms. Devos is preparing new policies on sexual misconduct on college campuses. Dr. Ford, of course, is at the center of national attention for accusing President Donald Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee, U.S. Judge Brett Kavanaugh, of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school in the 1980s.

At the heart of these two issues is a stated desire from both women for a fair process that gets to the truth, if at all possible when it comes to matters that often happen in private between two people.

A fair process requires that both the accuser and the accused have rights — the alleged victim to safety, support and compassion; the alleged abuser to the presumption of innocence until found guilty under an appropriate standard. They — and everyone else affected by the matter, whether it’s a campus community or an entire judicial system and nation — have a right to a thorough, independent investigation by people who know what they’re doing.

So Ms. Devos is right, at least in principle if not particulars, to want to ensure that students accused of assault, harassment or rape are provided due process, that formal complaints go through proper authorities, and that schools provide more support for victims.

A case now before the New York Court of Appeals underscores the complexity of campuses trying to regulate human sexual relations. The appeal was brought by Benjamin Haug, who was expelled from SUNY Potsdam for sexual misconduct involving an incident four years ago. He and another student had been drinking, and when he suggested they have sex, she took off her shirt. They had sex, but she later filed a complaint against him, saying she did not consent, but “froze.” She said she didn’t want evidence collected, didn’t want Mr. Haug “to be necessarily in trouble,” and didn’t testify at the hearing. Yet the school found he violated its code of conduct, which requires consent either in words or in clear actions. A lower appeals court overturned the school’s ruling.

The takeaway from the Potsdam case, in which the behavior was vague and the basis for the finding questionable, is clear: SUNY needs to revisit the procedures and standards for handling sexual misconduct cases.

Allegations of sexual assault should be investigated by people well-trained to do so, not by campus officials with no such training. Campuses are no better served if sexual predators are let off the hook than if students are punished based on misunderstandings and bad communication.

The U.S. Senate, too, should heed Ms. Devos’ call for due process. Dr. Ford, and her supporters, are right to say that the Senate Judiciary Committee should have an investigation by a competent entity like the FBI rather than rush forward to a hearing based on nothing more than “he said-she said” and its members’ obvious partisan biases.

The vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation may yet come down to politics and gut feelings. There may be, after all these years, no more evidence to be found. But the integrity of the highest court in the land deserves at least as vigorous a search for the truth as we would want for our daughters and our sons.