Robby Soave: A Libertarian Answer to the Campus Rape Crisis
Long have feminists warned that an epidemic of rape was spreading across American college campuses. Their concerns are eminently questionable but have nevertheless drawn the backing of governments, including the Obama administration and the state legislature of California. The latter has responded by passing SB 967, the "Yes Means Yes" bill, which will force university administrators to police intimate moments between students.
By tilting the burden of proof against the accused, the law will likely produce more accusations of rape, more rape convictions under due-process-free judiciary proceedings, and ultimately, more lawsuits. But it's doubtful that the law will actually deter rape.
As it turns out, there is something state and national governments could do to combat the campus sexual assault crisis, Reason's Robby Soave notes: lower the federally-mandated drinking age of 21.
