FIGHTING COLLEGE Kangaroo Courts. #HeToo. Accused Fight Back in Court and Often Win
John Doe and Jane Roe met, danced and drank. Then went to John’s room, and had sex. Two days later, Jane filed a sexual misconduct charge against John, saying she was too drunk to consent. John disagreed. After several months of investigation, the University of Michigan found for Jane. John was forced to withdraw from the university, just 13.5 credits shy of graduating. But then John took a step that is becoming more common among students who believe they have been harmed by tough policies aimed at combating campus sexual assault. He hired a lawyer and took the university to court, maintaining his innocence and charging the school had denied him even the rudiments of due process, specifically the right to question or cross-examine his accuser. And in the preliminary legal skirmishing that has taken place so far, a federal appeals court thunderously rejected the university’s motion to dismiss John’s lawsuit.
“When it comes to due process, the ‘opportunity to be heard’ is the constitutional minimum,” Judge Amul Thapar wrote in a majority decision. “If a student is accused of misconduct, the university must hold some sort of hearing before imposing a sentence as serious as expulsion or suspension, and … that hearing must include an opportunity for cross-examination.”
realclearinvestigations By Richard Berstein
