Accused Students
About 40-50% of campus sexual assault allegations are known to be unfounded. But campus “Kangaroo Courts” are widespread, resulting in frequent findings of “responsibility” of innocent men. To date, over 800 lawsuits have been filed by accused students against their universities.
Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE) has developed a number of recommendations for falsely accused students:
- Assemble a support team you can trust.
- Never speak to any school official by yourself.
- Don’t discuss your case with anyone else, and close all social media accounts.
- Educate yourself.
- Collect evidence and identify witnesses.
- Take care of yourself, and never give up.
How-to Guide:
- Matthew G. Kaiser and Justin Dillon: The KaiserDillon Guide to Representing Yourself in a Campus Sexual Assault Case
African-American Students
False allegations of sexual misconduct disproportionately affect African-Americans:
Case Studies:
- Michael Jones: Here’s 11 times young black men were railroaded by campus sexual assault claims
- College Fix: Campus kangaroo courts target nonwhite men: ‘Nobody wants to talk about it’
- Monique Judge: White Woman Who Falsely Accused 2 Black Football Players of Rape Rolls Her Eyes Throughout Sentencing Hearing
- Douglas Wilder: Secretary DeVos Right to Restore Due Process on Campus
Commentaries:
- Erika Sanzi: Black Men, Title IX, and the Disparate Impact of Discipline Policies
- Emily Yoffe: The Question of Race in Campus Sexual-Assault Cases
- David French: Black Lives Matter on Campus Also
- Jeannie Suk Gerson: Shutting Down Conversations of Rape at Harvard
Judicial Decisions in Favor of the Accused Student:
- Doe v. Brown University, 327 F. Supp. 3d 397 (D.R.I. Aug. 27, 2018). Judge John McConnell ruled, “Taken together and drawing reasonable inferences from these allegations, the Court holds that John has plausibly alleged intentional racial discrimination. It is plausible that the reason behind John’s differential treatment was that he is black and his accusers white; this is amplified by John’s allegations that Brown did not act against Jane when she violated a confidentiality order in referring to John as a “predator,” impliedly of white women. And while the use of “boy” in this context may or may not have been imbued with racial hostility, it is plausible that a jury could find it was.”
- Doe v. Trustees of Dartmouth College, No. 21-CV-085-JD, 2021 WL 2857518 (D.N.H. July 8, 2021). Judge Joseph A. DiClerico ruled, “Doe has alleged minimally sufficient facts to raise plausible claims of unlawful intentional racial discrimination under § 1981 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Specifically, Doe alleges that, since 2005, ‘at least 9 Black male football players were suspended or expelled following Title IX proceedings whereas no Title IX complaints against white football players were referred by the Title IX office for formal investigation during that same time period.’”
Press Releases: