Campus Rape Bill Passed By Georgia House

DECATUR, GA -- A Georgia bill that would limit campus rape investigations was approved by the Georgia House of Representatives on Wednesday, Patch has learned. For more Georgia political news and updates on this and other stories at the Georgia Capitol, click here to get Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.

The bill stirred contentious debate among lawmakers, with some arguing that rape survivors would be further damaged by the legislation. Others retorted that the bill offered a much-needed balance to witch-hunt-like inquiries that sometimes wrongly accused young men.

House Bill 51 passed through the House mostly along party lines, 115-55, according to news reports.

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver of Decatur said that the bill, although modified, was still just a partial fix to a systemic problem.

“This bill — although it started out as sledge hammer in the delicate process of the way we treat sexual assault victims — is still a hammer on victims’ rights,” Oliver said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m glad we put down the sledge hammer. But I urge you not to proceed with a hammer into very difficult situations.”

Read more: 5 bills that could affect Georgians profoundly

The proposed legislation mandates that institutions of higher learning report sexual assault allegations to law enforcement and can't begin their own investigations until law authorities have finished theirs. The bill also states that colleges and universities are forbidden from identifying the victims without their consent, nor can a victim be forced to cooperate with law enforcement officials.

“It’s a balance between the rights of the victim and the rights of the accused,” the bill's sponsor, Rep. Earl Ehrhart, Powder Springs, said. "This is about safe campuses for all of our students. This is about moms and dads. This is about their children, their education and careers. This is legislation that protects children on college campuses."

Speaking to Buzzfeed News, rape victims advocate Anna Voremberg from the group End Rape on Campus, said the bill may not pass federal scrutiny if it becomes law.

“If HB 51 does pass, I’m expecting to see some lawsuits and we’ll see how that proceeds in the courts,” Voremberg told BuzzFeed. “But I am not optimistic that the Department of Education and the Department of Justice will enforce federal civil rights laws, because we’re seeing they’re refusing to do so in the case of trans students.”

Ehrhart struck back at critics who said that the bill too heavily favored the accused.

“You may not care that a person’s life is destroyed by," he said, according to the AJC, "lack of due process on a Georgia campus. But if it’s you, your son or your family on the receiving in … you’ll cry for that due process.”

Several Georgia proposed laws on being considered that could change life for people in the state considerably. Here is a list of those bills.

Image courtesy of Tiffany Johnson