BILL NUMBER:  AB 967
  VETOED	DATE: 10/11/2015




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 967 without my signature.

This bill would require public and independent postsecondary
institutions that receive student financial aid from the state to
adopt and implement uniform disciplinary processes for sexual assault
and to apply consistent standards for expulsion, suspension, loss of
institutional aid or scholarship, loss of privileges and removal
from student housing. Additionally, this bill would require annual
reporting of data and recommend a minimum period of suspension, or
expulsion, for the most egregious violations of sexual assault
policies.

College campuses must deal with sexual assault fairly and with clear
standards of process. It is eminently reasonable to expect that
discipline shall not vary based on a student's status as an athlete
or a declared area of study. This bill, however, could deprive
professionals from using their better judgment to discipline
according to relevant circumstances. Moreover, it creates an
expectation that the state should recommend minimum penalties for
violations of specific campus policies.

Last year, I signed Senate Bill 967, making California the first
state in the country to define the terms of sexual consent for
college students, so that our higher education institutions could
better prevent sexual violence on campuses. This year, I signed AB
913 to ensure that existing jurisdictional agreements between
postsecondary institutions and local law enforcement include
responsibility for investigating sexual assaults and hate crimes.

Given these actions, I don't think it is necessary at this point for
the state to directly insert itself into the disciplinary and
governing processes of all private nonprofit and public colleges in
California.

Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.