America First Legal Seeks Tougher Federal Campus Crime Reporting Rules

Conservative legal group America First Legal (AFL) has filed a supplemental petition with the U.S. Department of Education urging it to overhaul how colleges report crime, calling for a centralized, publicly accessible national database of campus crime logs that are now maintained locally under the Clery Act. AFL argues that current rules let universities obscure the true scope of campus disorder and protest‑related violence because logs are scattered, inconsistent and often difficult for parents and students to access. The group also proposes a new "Political and Religious Violence Transparency Report" to track threats, assaults and harassment tied to political or religious beliefs, along with how schools respond, and wants fines of up to $71,545 per violation for institutions that fail to comply. The push comes amid months of high‑profile campus protests over the Gaza war and other issues at places like UC Berkeley, the University of Michigan and Columbia University, which have seen arrests, property damage and discrimination complaints, and some of which already face federal investigations and funding freezes. AFL and allied critics say a tougher, standardized federal reporting regime is needed so families can see safety risks and bias incidents in real time, while universities have generally resisted additional mandates, arguing existing Clery and Title IX rules are already burdensome.