Monthly Archives: February 2019

COURT RULES: “Trauma-Informed” Practices in TIX Sex Investigations are “Plausible” Evidence of Bias Against Males

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COURT RULES: “Trauma-Informed” Practices in TIX Sex Investigations are “Plausible” Evidence of Bias Against Males

The University of Colorado-Boulder’s use of “trauma-informed” practices in sexual misconduct investigations are “plausible” evidence of bias against males, a federal court ruled last week. It denied the taxpayer-funded university’s motion to dismiss Title IX and due process claims by William Norris, who was suspended and banned from campus after two disputed encounters with “Jane Doe” over a lengthy relationship. Norris claimed the university made numerous procedural errors during its 2016 investigation of Doe’s claims from 2014 and 2015. He also faulted the Title IX officials’ backgrounds in women’s studies and public support of women’s advocacy groups, calling those a “conflict of interest” that prejudiced his investigation.

The student has provided “at least some relevant information” to demonstrate that his gender-bias claims are plausible, the required standard in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judge also frowned upon “the timing of the notice” of investigation given to Norris and restrictions on his ability to review the investigation file.

thecollegefix.com -E.Berman  Norris v UColorado-Judge Babcock Opinion & Order 

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DRUNK SEX For Two. John & Jane Are Treated Differently. John Is Punished. Jane Is Not. John Wins in Court. MiamiU Settles w John.

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DRUNK SEX For Two. John & Jane Are Treated Differently. John Is Punished. Jane Is Not. John Wins in Court. MiamiU Settles w John.

A male college student was incapacitated due to alcohol one night after a party when a female student engaged him in sexual activity. Even though the university knew the male student was too drunk to consent (based on the school’s own policies) it still suspended him after the female student claimed she was sexually assaulted. The school recently settled with the male student. The case led to perhaps one of the most important court decisions regarding cases of campus sexual assault: In cases of credibility (he said/she said situations) cross-examination is an important tool for determining the truth.

Despite Miami University knowing that Jane initiated the sexual contact and that John, by the university’s own policies, was too drunk to consent, it was John who was punished. John and Jane were treated differently during the hearing process. John was provided less than two days to provide all evidence of his innocence, and Jane was allowed to submit a written statement even though she failed to turn it in before a deadline. A single Miami official investigated, prosecuted, and judged John’s case. John says in his lawsuit that this official “dominated John Doe’s hearing with questions and comments designed to deflate John Doe’s credibility while inflating Jane Doe’s credibility.”

John sued after being suspended, and a judge later criticized the school for its treatment of the accused student. On February 20, 2019, the two parties agreed to drop the lawsuit and settle out of court.

dailywire.com By Ashe Schow

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DUQUESNE STUDENT Nick Washington Has Always Been Innocent. Prosecutors Dropped Charges. Now He’s Telling His Truth, His Story.

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DUQUESNE STUDENT Nick Washington Has Always Been Innocent. Prosecutors Dropped Charges. Now He’s Telling His Truth, His Story.

Nick Washington had just started living his dream — an academic scholarship and a spot on the Duquesne University basketball team. Two weeks after arriving on campus, he was off the team and charged with rape. Two years later, the charge was dropped. “For 18 months, I had been accused of crimes that I did not commit.” Now, Washington is telling his side of the story and what he says happened in his dorm room that night…On Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 Washington said he went to a party with a female student and everything changed. She and I talked. We took pictures, kissed … we took an Uber back to my dorm. We made out in the elevator, got back to my room, we talked and kissed some more and had consensual sex.”  “Hours later, I was asleep in bed. Police come knocking at my door. I opened it, surprised. I had no idea what they were doing there.”…The female who had sex with Washington went to the hospital after telling friends she was sexually assaulted. She refused to talk to police or a counselor, and she did not want to press charges at the time… Washington was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and sexual assault.  In the year and a half that followed, Washington fought the charges at each court hearing. On the Thursday before trial, prosecutors offered to drop the rape charge and all felony counts against Washington if he and his accuser agreed. Washington plead guilty to disorderly conduct. “Despite how confident we felt about this trial and about Nick, at the end of the day, you can never guarantee what’s going to happen at a trial, and the risks were so very great,” Kerry Verdi, Washington’s lawyer said.

“I’m going to try to put it past me as much as I can, and try to stay positive and move forward.” Nick Washington

wtae.com -Marcie Cipriani

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#BELIEVEWomen Is In a State Of Legal Collapse

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#BELIEVEWomen Is In a State Of Legal Collapse

When future historians reflect back on our present moment, it’s entirely possible that liberal California judges, rather than the Trump administration, will get credit for pulling the plug on the progressive experiment of denying basic due-process rights to American male college students. That’s the takeaway from a stunning Los Angeles Times report from late last week. California’s university justice system — by far the largest in the United States — is reeling not because of Trump’s Department of Education but because of a series of rulings from California courts. Colleges and universities across California are scrambling to revise the way they handle sexual misconduct cases after a state appellate court ruled that “fundamental fairness” requires that accused students have a right to a hearing and to cross-examine their accusers…The California State system, for example, has “stopped proceedings in 75 cases.” Other colleges in the state are rapidly revising their policies.

The legal straw that broke the camel’s back was a ruling from California’s Second Appellate District in a case brought by former University of Southern California tight end Bryce Dixon. The court found that when a student faces “severe disciplinary sanctions,” and when witness credibility is “central to the adjudication of the allegation,”

. . fundamental fairness requires, at a minimum, that the university provide a mechanism by which the accused may cross-examine those witnesses, directly or indirectly, at a hearing in which the witnesses appear in person or by other means (such as means provided by technology like videoconferencing) before a neutral adjudicator with the power independently to find facts and make credibility assessments.

In plain language, the court’s ruling requires schools to afford accused students basic due-process rights, restoring a system of justice that existed for centuries before #BelieveWomen corrupted the legal landscape.

nationalreview.com -David French

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DOE’S COURT WIN Sets Precedent. Claremont McKenna Fought Dirty & Lost. CA Supreme Court Denied CMC’s Petition for Review.

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DOE’S COURT WIN Sets Precedent. Claremont McKenna Fought Dirty & Lost. CA Supreme Court Denied CMC’s Petition for Review.

College students in California owe a big debt of gratitude to John Doe from CMC, Mr.Dixon from USC, and their attorneys. It is primarily because of these two lawsuits and their precedent setting court wins that colleges throughout California, private and public, are forced to change their anti-due process Title IX hearings. After the CA Court of Appeal issued a unanimous decision (by three female justices) in favor of John Doe, CMC issued the following statement:  “The College firmly believes that the grievance process followed in this case met or exceeded relevant legal requirements for expectations under federal and state law.”  It’s important to note that CMC then chose to fight the CA Court of Appeal ruling and to continue waging war against John Doe and due process by filing a Petition for Review with the CA Supreme Court.  The CA Supreme Court denied CMC’s Petition for Review.  I’ll say that again.  The CA Supreme Court denied CMC’s Petition for Review.  (See Doe v. Claremont McKenna Coll. 25 Cal. App. 5th 1055, 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 655 (Aug. 8, 2018), review denied, No. S251318, 2018 Cal. LEXIS 9212 (Cal. Nov. 20, 2018).”

A California appeals court has revived a Claremont McKenna College student’s Title IX lawsuit against the college, ruling that the lack of cross examination resulted in an unfair hearing. The decision, which came in August 2018, aligns with a ruling by the same court last month that found the University of Southern California at fault for not giving a student accused of sexual assault the opportunity to cross-examine the student accusing him. Both rulings set a precedent for other colleges to update their policies to comply with the court’s ruling.

…Following the Title IX investigation in 2015, CMC found its student “John Doe” responsible for sexually assaulting “Jane Roe.” Roe did not show up or verbally testify at the final committee hearing. However, both Doe and Roe submitted written statements, and Doe testified verbally at the committee meeting. CMC suspended Doe. Doe filed a petition for a writ of administrative mandate, a request for a judge to review CMC’s decision. But his request was denied by a trial court in 2016. Doe appealed, and in 2018, California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision, instructing the lower court to grant Doe his writ of administrative mandate….CMC’s Title IX policy has changed since the incident in question and is expected to change again this month said a CMC spokesperson.

Doe Wins TIX lawsuit against CMC and CMC plans TIX changes -Jensen Steady

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LAWSUIT: Blacks Sue Uof Minnesota. White Female Believed over 10 Black Athlete’s Truth who Police Cleared.

Ten black football players were punished in 2016 so that University of Minnesota administrators would look like “heroes of the fight against sexual violence,” their lawyer said in court. The alleged gang rape of a white female student in September 2016 did not result in criminal charges. But it played a role in head coach Tracy Claeys’ dismissal and sparked a short-lived team boycott of the Holiday Bowl when all 10 accused players were forced to sit out.

U denied them due process and discriminated against them on the basis of race and sex. The plaintiffs attorney David Madgett said that Title IX Coordinator Tina Marisam accepted the white woman’s version of events, while “the stories of 10 African-American males are universally discredited.” Three months after the female student’s report, Marisam concluded her investigation and 10 players were suspended for sexual assault or sexual harassment. Their teammates then announced they would boycott the bowl game but changed their minds after Marisam’s report was leaked to the media.

U-Minnesota: NO Arrest, NO Charge UM Suspends 10 Black Athletes-One False Accusation

Ultimately, five players were cleared of wrongdoing after contested student conduct hearings, and a sixth had his suspension reversed on appeal to the provost. The other four were expelled…U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank heard oral arguments recently on the U’s motion to dismiss the players’ case. He gave no indication how or when he might rule.

duluthnewstribune.com-Josh Verges

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OCR ATTORNEY Drags Her Heels in Deciding Fate of Anti-Male Bias Complaint Against UNC System’s 16 Schools

Nearly a year after filing a federal complaint alleging anti-male bias in sexual misconduct investigations across the University of North Carolina System, The National Coalition for Men Carolinas, a men’s human rights organization, is still waiting for official action. The complaint was filed March 2nd 2018 with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. It alleges widespread deprivation of due process and mistreatment of male students and employees in Title IX investigations at the system’s 16 schools. The complaint cites multiple recent court cases where accused students have seen success in lawsuits against their schools for due process violations that led to their discipline. It alleges that UNC has not been following the interim guidance issued by DeVos in September 2017, who rescinded the previous administration’s “Dear Colleague” letters on Title IX enforcement. Former UNC-Chapel Hill wrestling coach C.D. Mock helped file the complaint. The university fired him in 2015 months before a court cleared Mock’s son of wrongdoing in a sexual assault investigation at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. (Mock’s son is featured in the Fox’s documentary: The Truth about Sex and College.)

NCFM Carolinas has received limited correspondence from OCR in the 11-plus months since filing the complaint, said President Gregory Josefchuk. The senior attorney in OCR’s D.C. regional office Sara Clash-Drexler communicated in April 2018 that she would be evaluating the complaint. In Sept. she finally said the evaluation of the complaint was ”currently making its way through our internal review process.” That means OCR “has yet to provide a notice of determination into the discriminatory practices we’ve identified (and submitted corroborating evidence)” in the 7 months since the complaint had been filed, responded Josefchuk to Clash-Drexler. Josefchuk said that voicemails left with OCR have been ignored since December.

“It is beyond frustrating to not receive a determination on a complaint that has provided ample evidence of systemic discrimination (based on sex),” According to its list of pending cases under investigation at “elementary-secondary and post-secondary schools,” last updated Feb. 1, OCR has 1,458 open sex-discrimination cases. Our complaint is “stuck in limbo,” and the halting communication and lack of developments in nearly a year was “very disappointing.” Given DeVos’s Title IX rulemaking and interest in reforming campus proceedings, Josefchuk said he would have expected the complaint to be “high on their list.”

thecollegefix.com– Jeremiah Poff

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EXPELLED Football Player Sues University of Louisville & Accuser. Seeks $15 Million

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EXPELLED Football Player Sues University of Louisville & Accuser. Seeks $15 Million

A former University of Louisville football player who was accused of rape in August 2018 is suing U of L and his accuser. The university expelled Mr. Averett after a code of conduct hearing on the matter. But a Jefferson County Grand Jury did not indict Averett on a criminal charge of rape. According to the lawsuit, Averett and the woman were dating and had consensual sex several times. The lawsuit states the woman “falsely accused (Averett) of raping her and published the false allegations on Snapchat.” It continues by saying that the defendants in the case have been treated differently because of their sex, and Averett “believes it is because the University acted out of fear to the “Me Too Movement.”

“A lie will get around the world and back before the truth can put his boots on,” said Aubrey Williams, Averett’s attorney. Averett is suing the university, the rape accuser and several other university officials for violating his due process rights  and defamation of character.  The lawsuit asks for $15 million in damages.

wdrb.com -Staff

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HE WAS Falsely Accused Of Rape. The City Of Charleston Just Paid Him $85,000.

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HE WAS Falsely Accused Of Rape. The City Of Charleston Just Paid Him $85,000.

A Charleston, SC college student just settled with the city for $85,000 after he was falsely accused of sexual assault. In March 2014, the male student was arrested after a female student claimed he raped her after a date. “Court documents state the woman told friends about her date and consensual sex and only went to the police after being ‘guilted’ by her roommate. The suit claimed the investigator had evidence contradicting the woman’s statement and also lacked sufficient evidence to back up the claim.” Despite this, police arrested the man, who later sued, claiming police didn’t thoroughly investigate the woman’s claims before arresting him.

The College of Charleston student faced up to 10 years in prison. After a four-day trial in November 2017 the male was found not guilty. He then sued the city, using testimony from one of the investigating detectives given during his criminal trial. “For almost four years he had the charge and a possible ten year prison sentence hanging over him. During the criminal trial in November 2017, the detective testified under oath about the scope of her investigation and that testimony was used against her in the civil trial to prove negligence in investigating the case.”

dailywire.com By Ashe Schow

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THE FUTURE Is Female. And She’s Furious.

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THE FUTURE Is Female. And She’s Furious.

In October, a few days after Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, The Washington Post published one woman’s account of channeling her rage into half an hour of screaming at her husband. “I announced that I hate all men and wish all men were dead,” wrote retired history professor Victoria Bissell Brown, entirely unapologetic despite conceding that her hapless spouse was “one of the good men.” While Brown’s piece was more clickbait than commentary, it was an extreme expression of a larger cultural moment. ‘Tis the season to be angry if you’re a woman in America—or so we’re told. The storm of sexual assault allegations that nearly derailed Kavanaugh’s confirmation was just the latest reported conflagration of female fury. But this decade’s wave of feminist anger had been building for several years before that. While the “female rage” narrative does not represent all or even most women, there is little doubt that it taps into real problems and real frustrations. The central theme of the call to feminist rage is sexual victimhood…In 1994, dissident feminist Christina Hoff Sommers published a controversial book, Who Stole Feminism?, that charged feminist activists and authors with using bogus facts and other “myth-information” to portray modern Western women as brutally oppressed. Much of this critique has held up.

In many ways, 20th century American feminism was one of liberal democracy’s great success stories. Overtly discriminatory laws and policies crumbled; cultural attitudes on a wide range of subjects underwent a dramatic shift.

Modern feminism, with its framework of male privilege and female oppression, takes a simplistic and one-sided view of gender dynamics in modern Western societies. It refuses to recognize that there is no perfect solution to the problem of dispensing justice when someone alleges a crime with no witnesses and both parties tell a credible story. Rage-driven activism can be particularly destructive when it targets and politicizes interpersonal relationships, an area in which the sexes are probably equal but different in bad behavior. Rage feminism is a path of fear and hate. It traps women in victimhood and bitterness. It demonizes men, even turning empathy for a male into a fault, and dismisses dissenting women as man-pleasing collaborators.

reason.com By Cathy Young

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