UNC MUST Release Names Of Sexual Assault Perpetrators, NC Supreme Court Rules
UNC will be required to release the names of individuals found responsible for rape, sexual assault or related acts of sexual misconduct, according to a North Carolina Supreme Court ruling. The 4-3 decision ends a nearly four-year fight for records of the University’s sexual assault disciplinary proceedings. “We are deeply disappointed with today’s decision,” Joel Curran, UNC vice chancellor of communications said.
The DTH Media Corporation first filed the lawsuit against UNC in a coalition with three other N.C. media companies in the fall of 2016, claiming the University had violated North Carolina public records law by refusing to release the names, offenses and disciplinary actions for students or faculty found responsible for sexual misconduct. The University initially claimed that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects the privacy of student records, gave them discretion over whether or not to provide this information. The DTH and the coalition of other media groups argued that a FERPA exemption — which allows universities to disclose the result of disciplinary proceedings that find a student responsible for a violent crime — meant the school was required to release the information under state public records law.
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