EDITORIAL: Due Process Returns to Campus
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is following through on her commitment to stand up for the due process rights of all students on U.S. college campuses. Last September, DeVos began this work, rescinding overzealous Obama-era guidelines that pushed university administrators to investigate and adjudicate serious accusations and even crimes. Using the threat of withheld funding if schools didn’t comply, the former administration instructed universities to lower the burden of proof and create a framework to give alleged victims the upper hand. Title IX, the law preventing sex discrimination in schools that take federal funds, has been expanded greatly in recent years to apply to cases of sexual misconduct. All this led to accused students with little recourse to defend themselves, with serious repercussions as a result, including expulsion. It amounted to a lack of due process — a right guaranteed in the Constitution. Once the new rules go through the full vetting, they will hold the force of law, so universities will need to pay attention. Many will undoubtedly resist doing so, but if they doubt what’s coming from the Trump administration, they should also look to the courts. A decision last fall, out of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, found that the University of Cincinnati had erred in expelling a student for alleged assault and had denied the student his due process rights. In that case, the court concluded: “While the public has a competing interest in the enforcement of Title IX, that interest can never override individual constitutional rights.” This is at the heart of what DeVos and her team are trying to achieve.
detroitnews.com Editorial
