David French:
Last month Nancy Pelosi took her star turn as House Democratic Leader at an event unveiling the so-called Title IX Protection Act, an effort to codify in federal statutes Obama-era guidance on adjudicating sexual-assault cases in higher education. This Obama guidance famously resulted in the creation of a national network of campus kangaroo courts that systematically and comprehensively denied male students the most basic due-process protections in the face of serious charges of misconduct.
Campus after campus — responding to the Obama administration’s dictates — set up tribunals that denied male students access to the evidence against them, denied them the opportunity to fully and fairly cross-examine accusers, placed them in double jeopardy, and often created definitions of “sexual assault” or “sexual misconduct” that were utterly at odds with prevailing law. Dozens of federal judges from across the political spectrum have ruled against these college processes, sometimes finding not only that they strip accused students of their constitutional rights, but also that they’re so biased that they potentially represent a form of gender discrimination against male students.
With that in mind, watch Pelosi respond to NBC’s Chuck Todd about the political fate of John Conyers, a long-serving and powerful Democratic representative from Michigan. Three women have accused him of sexual misconduct, two in formal complaints. The most recent filing came this year but was voluntarily dismissed after a federal court denied the plaintiff’s request to seal the case. Here’s Pelosi, responding:
WATCH: Rep. @NancyPelosi (D-Calif.): Accused Congressman Conyers is an “icon” in our country. #MTP pic.twitter.com/qko01yRqXj
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 26, 2017
What are the first words out of her mouth? “We are strengthened by due process.” What’s next? “John Conyers is an icon in our country.” She expressed confidence that Conyers would “do the right thing.” Later that day Conyers stepped down from serving as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. He remains in Congress.
That sound you hear is the legion of non-iconic, vulnerable college students (who at many schools are disproportionately black) wondering why due process strengthens Congress but not the campus. In reality, however, the hypocrisy is even deeper than you think. Members of Congress enjoy due-process protections so extensive and so biased against accusers that if they were applied to student accusers at college, they’d be considered a civil-rights violation.
An accuser has 180 days to bring her complaint to Congress’s Office of Compliance and then is subject to 30 days of mandatory counseling. She then has 15 days to decide whether to mediate the case. If she doesn’t mediate, the case is closed. If she does mediate, the member is provided legal counsel at taxpayer expense while the accuser has to foot the bill for her own lawyer. If mediation fails, the accuser then has 30 days to file her lawsuit. It’s an extraordinary system, one that should shock the conscience of American citizens who face completely different rules in their own workplaces.
To be fair to Pelosi, she does favor reforms to strengthen protections against harassment by members of Congress, but her response still reminds us how politicians’ extraordinarily inflated sense of importance insulates them from accountability or even from the most casual demands of consistency. From Ted Kennedy to Bill Clinton to now John Conyers it appears that the “icon” defense is alive and well. It’s a virtual mathematical formula, power versus progressivism equals immunity plus praise.
The last 3 words of the headline were not needed.
The left is going out of its way to prove to the citizens that there is an elite class in America that is above the law, hoards wealth and wields power like feudal lords.
Cokie Roberts was young once.
And she served in the White House press corp.
Way back then, she already knew, by COMMON KNOWLEDGE, that women never, NEVER, get into an elevator with Rep John Conyers.
She kept her party-line secret for decades.
Came out with it just yesterday.
Ironic Nancy would call up “Due Process” at a time when that is being replaced by what feels right to the mob at the time.
The left loves to hide behind that “due process” illusion. They didn’t believe George Zimmerman, Darren Wilson, the 5 Baltimore cops, Rick Perry, Trump or Moore deserved any of that “due process” stuff.
The title of this article could have stopped after the first 5 words.