Victim’s Federal Laws: Victims’ Rights Guaranteed Under the Law!

THE CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS’ BILL OF RIGHTS, Enacted 1992
You have the Right to:
1. Have sexual assaults investigated by civil & criminal authorities.
2. Be free from pressure to not report these crimes, or report them as lesser offenses.
3. Have the same representation, and ability to have others present, in campus proceedings as campus authorities permit the accused.
4. Have cooperation in obtaining medical evidence.
5. Be informed of any federal or state rights to test sexual assault suspects for communicable diseases.
6. Have access to existing campus mental health and victim support services.
7. Be provided housing which guarantees no unwanted contact with alleged sexual assault assailants.
8. Live in campus housing free of sexual intimidating circumstances with the option to move out of, such circumstances. 

The Jeanne Clery Act, Enacted in 1990, Amended 1998
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, codified at 20 USC 1092 (f) as a part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, is a federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose certain timely and annual information about campus crime and security policies. All public and private institutions of postsecondary education participating in federal student aid programs are subject to it. Violators can be “fined” up to $27,500 by the U.S. Department of Education, the agency charged with enforcement of the Act and where complaints of alleged violations should be made, or face other enforcement action.

The Clery Act, originally enacted by the Congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 1990 as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, was championed by Howard & Connie Clery after their daughter Jeanne was murdered at Lehigh University in 1986. They also founded the non-profit Security On Campus, Inc. in 1987. Amendments to the Act in 1998 renamed it in memory of Jeanne Clery and is now referred to as The Clery Act. 

The 1992 Higher Education Reauthorization Act: The Seven Areas That Must Be Addressed by Institutional Policy
1. Education Programs to promote the awareness or rape, acquaintance rape, and other sex offenses.
2. Possibly sanctions to be imposed following the final determination of an on-campus disciplinary procedure regarding rape, acquaintance rape, or other sex offenses, forcible or non-forcible.
3. Procedures students should follow if a sex offense occurs, including who should be contacted, the importance of preserving evidence, and to whom the alleged offense should be reported.
4. Procedures students should follow if a sex offense occurs, including who should be contacted, the importance of preserving evidence, and to whom the alleged offense should be reported.
a. the accuser and the accused are entitled to the same opportunities to have others present during a campus disciplinary proceeding, and
b. both the accuser and the accused shall be informed of the outcome of any campus disciplinary proceeding brought alleging a sexual assault.
5. Informing college and university students of their options to notify proper law enforcement authorities, including on-campus and local police, and the option to be assisted by campus authorities in notifying such authorities, if the student chooses.
6. Notification of students of existing counseling, mental health, or student services for victims of sexual assault, both on campus and in the community.
7. Notification of students of options for, and available assistance in, changing academic and living situations after an alleged sexual assault incident, if so requested by the victim and if such changes are reasonably available.

The Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act As Enacted on October 12, 1996
The bill provides new penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment and fines in accordance with Title 18, U.S.C., for persons who intend to commit a crime of violence (including rape), by distributing a controlled substance to another individual without that individual’s knowledge.

Specific Penalties for Rohypnol
Additional penalties are also imposed with specific reference to flunitrazepam, sold under the trade name of Rohypnol. In general, these penalties are equivalent to Schedule I controlled substances, which generally include the possibility of imprisonment up to 20 years for individuals who knowingly, or intentionally manufacture, distribute, or dispense one gram of flunitrazepam, or up to 5 years for 30 milligrams. [Note: the penalties are higher if the person has a prior conviction or if death or serious bodily injury results from the use of the substance.]

Penalties for Import and Export of Flunitrazepam
The Controlled Substance Act provisions relating to import or export are also amended, so that penalties for violations involving Rohypnol, are equivalent penalties for Schedule I drugs.

Sentencing Guidelines
The United States Sentencing Commission is directed to review and amend, as appropriate, the sentencing guidelines for offenses involving flunitrazepam so that the guidelines reflect the serious nature of such crimes.

Simple possession of Rohypnol
A new penalty is added of up to three years’ imprisonment, or a fine, or both, for simple possession of Rohypnol.