Category: Sexual Assault

PR: Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg, Joined by Dozens of Federal and State Judges, Calls for Due Process in Campus Sex Proceedings

Post author By saveadmin
Post date February 7, 2018

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg, Joined by Dozens of Federal and State Judges, Calls for Due Process in Campus Sex Proceedings

WASHINGTON / February 20, 2018 – In a recent interview for The Atlantic, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg affirmed the need for due process in campus sexual assault proceedings. In addition, Ginsburg clarified that due process protections are not incompatible with aspirations for gender equality.

Asked, “What about due process for the accused?”, Ginsburg gave this reply: “Well, that must not be ignored and it goes beyond sexual harassment. The person who is accused has a right to defend herself or himself, and we certainly should not lose sight of that. Recognizing that these are complaints that should be heard. There’s been criticism of some college codes of conduct for not giving the accused person a fair opportunity to be heard, and that’s one of the basic tenets of our system, as you know, everyone deserves a fair hearing.” [emphasis added]

When the interviewer sought clarification whether “some of those criticisms of the college codes valid?”, Ginsburg provided this unequivocal answer: “Do I think they are? Yes.”

Queried about her thoughts how to balance the values of due process against the principle of sex equality, Ginsburg explained, “It’s not one or the other. It’s both. We have a system of justice where people who are accused get due process, so it’s just applying to this field what we have applied generally.”

Ginsburg’s sentiments on this issue have been echoed in recent rulings issued by dozens of federal and state judges.

Since 2012, over 200 lawsuits by students accused of sexual assault have been filed against colleges and universities. The SAVE report, Lawsuits Against Universities for Alleged Mishandling of Sexual Misconduct Cases, documents that in a majority of cases, judges have ruled in favor of the accused students (1). To date, 79 of these lawsuits have resulted in decisions by state and federal judges against the defendant university (2).

Justice Ginsburg’s comments were published in the February 15, 2018 edition of The Atlantic (3).

Citations:

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for effective and fair solutions to sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence: www.saveservices.org

Believe the Victim Campus Sexual Assault

Professors and Legal Experts Call for End to Guilt-Presuming ‘Victim-Centered’ Investigations

Post author By saveadmin
Post date February 7, 2018

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: info@saveservices.org

Professors and Legal Experts Call for End to Guilt-Presuming ‘Victim-Centered’ Investigations

WASHINGTON / February 7, 2018 – Today 137 professors and legal experts are releasing an Open Letter that calls on college administrators, lawmakers, criminal justice agencies, and others to promptly end the use of so-called “victim-centered” investigations. Such investigations are fundamentally flawed because they presume the guilt of the accused. The professors come from leading colleges and universities around the country.

The letter traces the source of the “victim-centered” approach to the early 1990s when advocates began to call for “swift and unquestioning judgments about the facts of [sexual] harassment without standard evidentiary procedures with the chant ‘always believe the victim.’”

According to a Human Rights Watch report, a “victim-centered” approach means the investigator assumes “all sexual assault cases are valid unless established otherwise by investigative findings.” The University of Texas School of Social Work’s Blueprint for Campus Police instructs investigators to anticipate legal defense strategies and urges that complainant inconsistencies be covered over by not recording a “detailed account of prior interview statements.” (1)

The Open Letter concludes, “By their very name, their ideology, and the methods they foster, ‘believe the victim’ concepts presume the guilt of an accused. This is the antithesis of the most rudimentary notions of justice. In directing investigators to corroborate allegations, ignore reporting inconsistencies, and undermine defenses, the ‘believe the victim’ movement threatens to subvert constitutionally-rooted due process protections.”

The use of biased victim-centered investigations on campus has given rise to numerous lawsuits by accused students alleging biased collection of evidence (2). In many cases, the judge has issued a ruling in favor of the accused student (3).

Victim-centered practices, sometimes referred to as “Start by Believing,” are becoming widespread in the criminal justice system, as well (4). In 2016 an Arizona governor’s commission issued a letter advising the state’s criminal justice agencies to reject “Start by Believing” investigative methods because their use “creates the possibility of real or perceived confirmation bias.” (5)

More information about “victim-centered” investigations is available (6). The Open Letter can be viewed online (7).

Citations:

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for effective and fair solutions to sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: To Reduce Lawsuit Risk, Administrators Need to Implement New OCR Sexual Assault Guidelines

Post author By saveadmin
Post date October 11, 2017

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

To Reduce Lawsuit Risk, Administrators Need to Implement New OCR Sexual Assault Guidelines

WASHINGTON / October 11, 2017 – Since the issuance of the federal Dear Colleague Letter in 2011, nearly 200 lawsuits have been filed by accused students alleging lack of due process. (1) Implementation of the Department of Education’s September 2017 Q & A on Campus Sexual Misconduct, which urges colleges to utilize equitable procedures to resolve allegations, are likely to reduce schools’ liability risk. (2)

These provisions from the 2017 Q&A are particularly relevant to lawsuit prevention:

“A school must adopt and publish grievance procedures that provide for ‘equitable’ resolution of complaints of sex discrimination, including sexual misconduct.” (Page 3)
The parties must have “meaningful access to evidence,” and the parties should have the “opportunity to respond” to investigation reports in writing or at a live hearing. (Page 5)
Schools should “avoid conflicts of interest and biases in the adjudicatory process.” (Page 5)

In addition, the new federal guidance notes, “If all parties voluntarily agree… the school may facilitate an informal resolution, including mediation, to assist the parties in reaching a voluntary resolution.” (Page 4). Voluntary resolutions can provide both parties with a satisfactory outcome and no reason to pursue future legal action.

In recent years, Courts have issued strongly worded rulings in favor of accused students. (3) Schools that fail to afford “equitable” procedures are exposing themselves to significant financial risk. In one case, the school paid a $245K settlement for the university’s ‘unfair and biased’ rape investigation. (4)

If schools are transparent with their procedures and offer true procedural safeguards to students, as laid out by the latest OCR guidance, the potential for successful civil lawsuits against the school will be diminished. SAVE recommends that administrators review their campus policies to ensure consistency with OCR’s new guidance, thus protecting all students and limiting their school’s liability.

Additional information can be found in SAVE’s Special Reports titled, “Victim-Centered Investigations: New Liability Risk for Colleges and Universities” (5) and “Lawsuits Against Universities for Alleged Mishandling of Sexual Misconduct Cases.” (6)

(1) https://titleixforall.knack.com/databases#due-process-lawsuits3/due-process-lawsuits/

(2) https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-title-ix-201709.pdf

(3)https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CsFhy86oxh26SgTkTq9GV_BBrv5NAA5z9cv178Fjk3o/edit#gid=0

(4) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/17/montana-quarterback-receives-245k-settlement-for-universitys-unfair-and-biased-rape-investigation/?utm_term=.8eb6ead1d385

(5) http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/Victim-Centered-Investigations-and-Liability-Risk.pdf

(6) http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/Sexual-Misconduct-Lawsuits-Report2.pdf

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: In Support of Sexual Assault Survivors, SAVE Calls on College Administrators to Expeditiously Implement New Federal Policy

Post author By saveadmin
Post date September 25, 2017

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

In Support of Sexual Assault Survivors, SAVE Calls on College Administrators to Expeditiously Implement New Federal Policy

WASHINGTON / September 25, 2017 – In order to support identified sexual assault victims, SAVE is urging campus administrators to implement the new policy issued by the Department of Education as soon as practicable. The document, “Q and A on Campus Sexual Misconduct,” was released this past Friday (1).

The federal guidance is designed to make the process more fair for both complainant and the accused, improve the reliability of disciplinary determinations, and bring an end to what many persons have termed the campus “kangaroo courts.”

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) has identified five ways in which the new guidance will benefit identified victims:

Increased Reporting: Flawed campus procedures discourage the reporting of incidents. In Michigan, student Jessica Howell publicly denounced the campus adjudication process as treating the “violation of our bodies and minds…as no more than a late library book.” (2)
Enhanced Credibility of Complainants: The federal guidance reminds schools of the definition of hostile environment as sexual misconduct that is “severe, persistent, or pervasive.” This will encourage schools to curb overly broad definitions of sexual misconduct such as “unwanted flirting,” use of unwanted gender pronouns, insensitive jokes, and the like. This will reduce the perception of sexual misconduct complaints as frivolous, thus enhancing the credibility of complainants.
Better Investigations: The new guidance removes the previous prohibition on schools from relying on investigations by law-enforcement authorities, and eliminates the 60-day limit for resolution of the complaint. These changes will enhance the thoroughness and accuracy of investigations.
Mediation Option: The new guidance allows parties that are agreeable to this approach to engage in “informal resolution, including mediation, to assist the parties in reaching a voluntary resolution.” Mediation allows the parties to clarify their intentions, express feelings, and convey remorse.
Fewer Appeals, Lawsuits, and Repeat Hearings: The main objective of the new policy is to enhance the accuracy and reliability of campus adjudications. When the accused student believes the determination is wrong, he is likely to file an appeal or lawsuit, often resulting in a decision to repeat the hearing. This process can consume months or years.

In addition, SAVE encourages the referral of felony-level cases to local law enforcement, whenever feasible. The criminal justice system provides 28 protections to identified victims that are not available on campuses (3).

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 73% of Americans agree with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s statement that “Every survivor of sexual misconduct must be taken seriously. Every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined.” (4)

Citations:

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for practical and effective solutions to campus sexual assault: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: SAVE Calls on California Lawmakers to Postpone Consideration of SB-169

Post author By saveadmin
Post date September 20, 2017

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

Rasmussen Poll Shows Most Americans Support DeVos Statement: SAVE Calls on California Lawmakers to Postpone Consideration of SB-169

WASHINGTON / September 20, 2017 – A new Rasmussen poll has found that 73% of Americans agree with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s statement that “Every survivor of sexual misconduct must be taken seriously. Every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined.” DeVos made the statement during a recent major policy address.

DeVos also reported that the Department of Education will develop a new campus sexual assault policy designed to protect the rights and protections of both identified victims and accused students.

In response, the editorial boards of 13 newspapers have called for major reforms to the current campus-based approach for handling allegations of sexual assault. The newspapers include the Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, and others (1).

The San Bernardino Sun editorial board also endorsed DeVos proposal, explaining, “Sexual assault is a serious crime. It should be dealt with by police and the legal system, not a kangaroo hearing operated by college administrators.” (2) The Orange County Register similarly noted, “But the government, and universities under its direction, have gone too far, and, as a result, threatened and violated the rights of the innocent.” (3)

A 2016 survey of 400 California voters found a strong majority favored involvement of the criminal justice system in campus cases (4). Asked, “Once the investigation is completed, who should make the determination of innocence or guilt?”, 89% favored the criminal justice system, and only 11% favored the current campus disciplinary committees.

Based on the results of the Rasmussen poll, the recommendations of numerous editorial boards, and the survey of California voters, SAVE is now urging California legislators to postpone consideration of SB-169 until the current concerns can be debated and resolved (5).

The Rasmussen survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted on September 10-11, 2017 (6).

Citations:

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for practical and effective solutions to campus sexual assault: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: New York Times: Time to End the Campus Witch Hunt

Post author By saveadmin
Post date September 11, 2017

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

New York Times: Time to End the Campus Witch Hunt

WASHINGTON / September 11, 2017 – The New York Times has published a strongly worded editorial labeling the current campus sexual assault system a “witch hunt” that embodies numerous “travesties of justice.” Written by Pulitzer prize winner Bret Stephens, the commentary invites persons of all political persuasions to view the federal Dear Colleague Letter on sexual violence as an effort to pursue an “agenda through methods both lawless and aggressive.” (1)

Stephens highlighted the experience of one father who revealed, “After my son received notice that he had been accused of rape I went to the top-tier university he attended and in my first meeting was told he should leave voluntarily because there was no possibility that he could ever be found innocent.”

Writing in Politico, Lara Brazelon similarly has decried how “hundreds of schools were placed under federal investigation for failing to be tougher in handling allegations of campus sexual assault.” (2)

On Sunday, the Editorial Board of USA Today expressed support of Secretary DeVos’ plan, explaining, “Sexual assaults are serious crimes best handled by the criminal justice system. The most stringent punishment schools can order is expulsion. That can be appropriate for cheating on a term paper, but not for rape.” (3)

In August, four Harvard Law School professors issued a statement sharply critical of Department of Education policies on campus sexual assault. “While the Administration’s goals were to provide better protections for women, and address the neglect that prevailed before this shift, the new policies and procedures have created problems of their own,” the professors charged (4).

The SAVE report, “Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade,” further documents how campus rape tribunals mistreat identified victims and accused students alike and thwart the search for justice (5).

Citations:

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for practical and effective solutions to campus sexual assault: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: Harvard Law Professors Call for Sweeping Changes to Campus Sex Tribunals

Post author By saveadmin
Post date September 5, 2017

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

Harvard Law Professors Call for Sweeping Changes to Campus Sex Tribunals

WASHINGTON / September 5, 2017 – Four Harvard Law School professors have issued a statement sharply critical of Department of Education policies on campus sexual assault. “While the Administration’s goals were to provide better protections for women, and address the neglect that prevailed before this shift, the new policies and procedures have created problems of their own,” the professors charge.

Professors Elizabeth Bartholet, Nancy Gertner, Janet Halley, and Jeannie Suk Gersen call on the federal agency to implement numerous reforms to assure fairness for both the accuser and the accused. These changes include narrowing definitions of sexual assault, assuring meaningful cross-examination, and involving legal counsel. The Harvard professors are especially critical of universities that allow investigators to also serve as adjudicators, a practice often referred to as the “single-investigator” model.

The professors’ memorandum, “Fairness for All Students Under Title IX,” can be viewed online (1).

This week SAVE is launching a national campaign designed to increase public awareness how campus rape tribunals are mistreating identified victims of sexual assault (2). Anecdotal examples of this mistreatment have been compiled (3). The criminal justice system offers 26 protections to identified victims that are not available on campus (3).

The SAVE report, Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade, further documents how campus rape tribunals disappoint identified victims and accused students alike and frustrate the search for justice (4).

Citations:

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for practical and effective solutions to campus sexual assault: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: Dept. of Education Invites Recommendations on Regulatory Reform:

Post author By saveadmin
Post date August 2, 2017

Contact: Christopher Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

U.S. Dept. of Education Invites Recommendations on Regulatory Reform:

SAVE Urges Persons to Comment on Unlawful Sexual Violence Directives

WASHINGTON / August 2, 2017 – The Department of Education has issued an invitation to persons to submit comments on federal regulations that are deemed to be unnecessary or ineffective, or impose costs that exceed the benefits. The solicitation was issued pursuant to Executive Order 13777, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.

SAVE invites state lawmakers and others to submit comments urging the Department of Education to rescind its 2011 Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Violence — https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201104.html — and its subsequent Questions and Answers on Title IX and Sexual Violence — https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-201404-title-ix.pdf .

Even though the Letter and Q and A policy documents were never submitted for public review and comment, this unlawful federal policy has been enforced by the federal government as binding law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The 2011 Dear Colleague Letter has been sharply criticized by law professors, civil liberties organizations, and others for trivializing the problem of campus rape, shortchanging sexual assault victims, and curtailing due process rights of the accused: http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/ocr/

In recent months, five organizations have issued independent reports calling for an overhaul of the campus adjudication system: http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/ocr/

SAVE: Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade
American College of Trial Lawyers: Position Statement Regarding Campus Sexual Assault Investigations
NCHERM Group: Due Process and the Sex Police
American Bar Association Task Force for Promoting Fairness in Campus Sexual Misconduct Cases
Heritage Foundation: Campus Sexual Assault: Understanding the Problem and How to Fix It

The deadline for submission of comments is August 21, 2017. To submit a comment, go to: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=ED-2017-OS-0074-0001 Additional information is available here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ED-2017-OS-0074-0001

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working to restore free speech and due process on college campuses: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault

Proposed CA Bill Would Shortchange Sexual Assault Victims and the Accused: SAVE

Post author By saveadmin
Post date May 31, 2017

Contact: Stephen Coleman

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: scoleman@saveservices.org

Proposed CA Bill Would Shortchange Sexual Assault Victims and the Accused: SAVE

WASHINGTON / May 31, 2017 – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, a leading national organization working to end campus sexual assault, is calling on California legislators to oppose SB-169, citing a recent report that shows current campus policies are shortchanging identified victims and accused students alike.

The SAVE report, “Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade,” details numerous cases of identified victims harmed by campus officials who allegedly failed to conduct a thorough investigation or to impose appropriate sanctions. In some cases, identified victims claim campus officials have discouraged the reporting of their assaults.

The problem can be traced back to 2011, when the U.S. Department of Education released a controversial guideline mandating that all allegations of campus sexual assault be handled by disciplinary committees. This had the effect of sidelining criminal justice authorities.

Against this background, the California legislature is currently considering SB-169, a bill that seeks to turn the problematic federal policy into state law. The bill states: “It is critical for California to implement the federal regulations issued by the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on April 4, 2011.”

Accused students are being mistreated, as well. Numerous lawsuits alleging lack of due process have been filed against California universities. In one recent decision, a judge ruled that San Diego State University violated the accused student’s Title IX rights sufficiently to “shock the Court’s conscience.”

A recent survey of California voters found 68.5% of respondents believe police, not colleges, should be responsible for investigating allegations of campus sexual assault, and 89.1% want the criminal justice system to make determinations of innocence or guilt.

SAVE believes SB-169 betrays both identified victims and accused students, while marginalizing the role of the criminal justice system. Instead, SAVE recommends consideration of the Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act.

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for practical and effective solutions to campus sexual assault: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: States Get ‘Green Light’ to Reassert Control Over Higher Education Policies

Post author By saveadmin
Post date May 1, 2017

Contact: Stephen Coleman

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: scoleman@saveservices.org

States Get ‘Green Light’ to Reassert Control Over Higher Education Policies

WASHINGTON / May 1, 2017 – A recent White House Executive Order instructs the Department of Education to implement sweeping changes in order to “protect and preserve State and local control” over the “administration and personnel” of all federally supported schools, including universities and colleges (1). The Order represents a dramatic departure from the command-and-control approach that the federal agency utilized under previous Administrations.

The Executive Order is expected to have wide-ranging effects, including on the numerous Department of Education Dear Colleague Letters that condition federal funding on compliance with its interpretations of the Title IX law, originally enacted in 1972 to end sex discrimination.

Many of these directives relate to campus sexual assault policies and programs:

On April 4, 2011, the Department issued a Dear Colleague Letter on sexual violence that mandated all allegations of campus sexual assault be investigated and adjudicated by campus disciplinary committees.
On April 24, 2015, the Department issued a directive stating that all school schools “must designate at least one employee to coordinate their efforts to comply with and carry out their responsibilities under Title IX.” (2)

The Executive Order draws its authority from earlier laws:

The Department of Education Organization Act of 1979 states that the Department of Education is not authorized to exercise any “control” over the “administration or personnel of any educational institution.” (Section 103) (3)
The General Education Provisions Act of 1979 uses even stronger language, enunciating a “Prohibition Against Federal Control of Education” (Section 438) (4)

The Executive Order instructs the Department of Education to “withdraw or modify any guidance documents pursuant to this subsection” within 300 days.

Citations:

SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) is working for practical and effective solutions to campus sexual assault: www.saveservices.org