On Dec. 8, California congresswoman Rep. Jackie Speier introduced a new bill requiring any college student who has been expelled from a university for sexual misconduct to have the reason for expulsion noted on their college transcripts.
The requirements of the bill, known as the Safe Transfer Act, have already been implemented in both New York and Virginia. Speier hopes to make this requirement a national one.
Without the reason for expulsion noted on a student’s transcript, students found guilty of sexual assault and misconduct can turn over a new page at a new university, putting other students at risk if they go on to reoffend. Plenty of schools will currently put a note on transcripts if a student was expelled for academic misconduct, like plagiarizing or cheating, and officials and victim’s advocates hope to achieve similar results for sexual misconduct.
“Sexual assault is a far more serious offense that deserves at least as much, if not greater, scrutiny,” Speier said in a statement to the Associated Press.
BuzzFeed News notes several horror stories where students accused of sexual assault at one school ended up being able to hurt more people. Jesse Matthew Jr., for example, went on to murder two college women in 2016 after being accused of sexual assault twice, at two different schools, when he was in college in 2002 and 2003.
If the bill is passed, students found guilty of sexual misconduct would be allowed to write a statement to accompany the notation on their transcripts, according to Motto.
Those opposing the bill claim the requirement would unfairly label the suspects, as these charges are filed by universities instead of law enforcement, and could drastically limit the rights and safety of those accused of misconduct. When it comes to finding someone guilty of sexual assault, universities have a much lower burden of evidence—they just have to prove that there's a greater than 50 percent chance that the assault happened.
The bill is supported by End Rape on Campus, The National Organization for Women, and the Association of Title IX Administrators, but correspondents from Motto claim that whether the bill will pass is still very unclear.