PARENTS Seek To Bring Due Process To TitleIX Sex Misconduct Cases Following Son’s Plight
In what seemed like a scene from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the iconic Jimmy Stewart film about a naive new senator taking on corruption, Audrey and Richard McIntosh were on a similar mission when they visited Washington, DC, recently. The couple shared their story about how their son became one of hundreds who have been accused of violating Title IX. Their son is a victim of a federal law designed to prevent discrimination based on sex that morphed into a secretive process stacked against those accused of sexual misconduct following Barack Obama’s 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education sent to educational institutions.
Charges of “dating violence” and sexual assault launched against their son by a former girlfriend while he was a student at Washington University in Missouri. The charges caused his eventual expulsion from the school — a decision made without due process, his parents said. They also said a report from campus police who were called to the dorm room where their son and girlfriend were located found no evidence of physical violence. It also eventually led to dashing the young man’s hope of having a career in the U.S. military because he was expelled from Reserve Officers’ Training Course (ROTC) and made to repay a college scholarship he received from the organization.
Family Under Media Scrutiny And as if it were not enough for this family to face, the tides turned against Richard and Audrey when they attempted to change state law to put into place due process in Title IX investigations, including allowing those facing sexual misconduct charges to have an attorney and access to case findings.
“We don’t want another family to have to go through this,” Audrey said. Ironically, it was the parents’ effort to help their son that led to what they said amounted to the university and local media vilifying the whole family. The story includes Audrey and Richard’s vocations, which allowed them — more easily than most parents — to try to bring change to the Title IX process in Missouri; she is a judge on the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission, and he is a lobbyist who works with members of the State House and Senate.
The next chapter of the story is Washington University sharing confidential information with lawmakers. Then the media claimed that House Bill 573 was crafted and promoted solely to help their son even though his fate was sealed, including the rejection of his appeal of the Title IX decision. Local and eventually national media blew up the story, reporting that the McIntoshes had only personal reasons for backing the bill. The McIntoshes said that the bill they supported, which never made it past committee, is rendered dead unless or until it or some version of it is introduced in the next state legislation session, which begins in January. Moreover, the McIntoshes want changes made to the Title IX process to make it more accountable and transparent for all parties.
Thousands Face Title IX Cases Their son’s case is anything but unique. There is a massive online subscription-based database, Title IX for All, that’s devoted to keeping track of the “1,000 plus” lawsuits filed by respondents in higher education Title IX proceedings. Audrey said the university and the media failed to present the truth in her son’s case. “They were making it about our son, not the political conversation about what’s right to do and what’s wrong.”
breitbart.com-Penny Star
