{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/senators-dont-let-rolling-stone", "Senators: Don't let Rolling Stone article get in way of fixing 'broken' system", "2014-12-10", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senators: Don't let Rolling Stone article get in way of fixing 'broken' system  \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Wednesday, December 10, 2014\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Allie Grasgreen\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            It didn\u2019t take long for Rolling Stone\u2019s disputed article describing an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia to come up at a Senate hearing on campus sexual assault Tuesday that featured testimony from Sens. Claire McCaskill and Kirsten Gillibrand.\r\nMcCaskill (D-Mo.) said she\u2019s \u201csaddened and angry\u201d by the magazine\u2019s \u201cbad journalism,\u201d which she said is a setback for survivors of sexual violence. She and others at the hearing also called for more robust and accommodating institutional support for young women and men like Jackie, the young woman profiled in the magazine article, published last month.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is not a crime where you have rampant false reporting or embellishment,\u201d McCaskill said. \u201cOur problem is victims are too frightened to come forward. \u2026 I want to make sure we overcome [the article] and don\u2019t allow it to slow our determination to make sure victims have every support they need.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nMcCaskill testified briefly, alongside Gillibrand, at the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing exploring the role of law enforcement in campus sexual assaults.\r\nThe senators worked together on the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, which would increase protections for students and hold colleges more accountable for addressing and preventing crimes.\r\n\u201cI refuse to let this one story become an excuse for Congress not to fix a broken system,\u201d Gillibrand said.\r\nMcCaskill told the few senators in the room that she wants feedback on the legislation, which she and Gillibrand announced in July alongside several bipartisan co-sponsors. McCaskill said she hopes to introduce the bill and move it toward passage next year.\r\nIn his opening remarks, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse stressed the importance of police involvement in campus violence against women. When law enforcement gets involved in such cases, Whitehouse said, it sends an important societal signal that violence against women is treated as a crime.\r\n\u201cI\u2019m concerned that law enforcement is being marginalized when it comes to the crime of campus sexual assault,\u201d Whitehouse said. \u201cI\u2019m concerned that the specter of flawed law enforcement overshadows the harm of marginalized law enforcement.\u201d\r\nSen. Chuck Grassley added that he hopes lawmakers move soon to pass the Campus Safety and Accountability Act, of which he is a co-sponsor.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s high time to make sure a crime is a crime wherever it\u2019s committed,\u201d Grassley said. \u201cWhen it\u2019s treated universally the same way, we\u2019ll see less rape on campus.\u201d\r\nColleges need to do a better job of communicating to students their options regarding law enforcement, Whitehouse suggested, or risk permanent mistrust in the system among victims who won\u2019t be willing to come forward because they\u2019re uncertain about the repercussions.\r\n\u201cMarginalizing the men and women who are trained professionals in the task of investigation is a move in the wrong direction,\u201d Whitehouse said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t increase and improve the role of the criminal justice system in these cases, victims will pay the price.\u201d\r\nOn a panel following McCaskill and Gillibrand\u2019s testimony, one practitioner insisted that campus adjudication processes should be integrated with \u2013 not separate from \u2013 police investigations. In all cases, she and other witnesses said, the victim\u2019s wishes and well-being should be at the center of decision-making.\r\n\u201cCampus-based adjudications don\u2019t work,\u201d said Peg Langhammer, executive director of the Day One sexual assault and trauma center in Rhode Island. \u201cPolice need to be involved, but it has to be a team approach.\u201d\r\nThe CASA requires colleges to sign memoranda of understanding with local law enforcement to clarify roles and responsibilities. That provision should provide for better and more uniform fact-finding, investigations and adjudication on campuses, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, another of the bill\u2019s co-sponsors.\r\n\u201cThe lack of a process with integrity and accuracy is what discourages a lot of survivors from coming forward,\u201d Blumenthal said. \u201cI think that the University of Virginia experience \u2026 should intensify and increase our determination to make this process worthy of the courage of survivors that do come forward.\u201d\r\nIt\u2019s unclear what actually happened to Jackie, whose story formed the centerpiece of the Rolling Stone article, Blumenthal said. But whatever happened should \u201credouble our determination\u201d to review and improve campus processes, he said.\r\nGillibrand said that regardless of any conflicting points in Jackie\u2019s account, many key facts \u2013 such as administrators allowing self-declared perpetrators to remain on campus \u2013 are not in dispute.\r\n\u201cIt has never been about this one school and it is painfully clear that colleges and universities across the country have a real problem,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope this story will not ultimately overshadow the stories of thousands of brave women and men.\u201d\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/senators-dont-let-rolling-stone"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.491290982812643, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}