UNIVERSITY of Wisconsin Title IX Investigation Leads to Lawsuit by Accused Male Student
In a new court filing, Quintez Cephus, a student-athlete at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, alleges that the university violated his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process. According to the complaint, by conducting a Title IX investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct while Cephus was simultaneously subject to criminal proceedings, the university:
“[K]nowingly and intentionally forced [Cephus] into the predicament of having to either waive his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by choosing to participate in the University process despite the potential harm to his criminal defense, or decline to participate in the University’s process thus leading to the inevitable finding of responsibility and severe sanctions.”
Interestingly, the complaint shows that the Title IX Coordinator alleged that Cephus had violated state criminal law. The fact that a Title IX complaint flatly alleged that a student had violated state criminal law (rather than simply university policy) is a stark reminder of a point that campus due process advocates routinely make: Very often, Title IX investigations are not merely about violations of campus codes of conduct, but actually serve as parallel, less regulated, and less capable investigations into violations of criminal law. The complaint makes interesting arguments and highlights issues FIRE often sees regarding campus Title IX investigations running concurrently with criminal investigations and prosecutions.
thefire.org By Tyler Coward
