How rape became a partisan issue

But the question Cooke sought to answer in that post — “Why are conservatives so invested in debunking the Rolling Stone story?” — didn’t come from nowhere.

What is it about rape and the right? From prattling about “legitimate rape” to outing the woman making the allegations in the Rolling Stone story (and apparently getting it wrong), there are plenty examples of conservatives behaving badly on this question.

But college campuses are also adopting extremely loose evidentiary standards for rape and other forms of sexual assault that seem likely to ensnare innocent people, even if the overwhelming majority of properly adjudicated rape claims are true.

Now some commentators are coming dangerously close to arguing that we should abandon the presumption of innocence off-campus, where the authorities have the power not just to expel but to imprison.

At issue isn’t disbelief of women in general or rape survivors in particular. It’s understanding that the seriousness of a crime — and rape, with its violation of bodily integrity is perhaps the most serious crime short of murder — is separate from determining guilt or innocence.