Month: April 2017

Categories
Campus Sexual Assault

PR: Mending a Flawed System: SAVE Announces Teleconference on ‘Campus Sexual Assault’

Contact: Stephen Coleman

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: scoleman@saveservices.org

Mending a Flawed System: SAVE Announces Teleconference on ‘Campus Sexual Assault:

Reforming the Campus Adjudication System’ – Friday, April 28, 1:00pm ET

WASHINGTON / April 24, 2017 – Following the recent release of three independent reports calling for widescale reforms how colleges should handle sexual assault cases, SAVE is announcing an upcoming teleconference on Reforming the Campus Adjudication System. All three reports document how the current system of campus disciplinary committees is shortchanging identified victims and accused students, thus placing college administrators in an untenable situation.

The teleconference will be held on Friday, April 28, 1:00 – 2:00pm Eastern time. The teleconference is available at no charge.

The teleconference will highlight the perspectives and recommendations from recent reports by the American College of Trial Lawyers, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, and the NCHERM Group:

  1. American College of Trial Lawyers: Position Statement Regarding Campus Sexual Assault Investigations: https://www.actl.com/library/white-paper-campus-sexual-assault-investigations
  2. SAVE: Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade: http://www.saveservices.org/reports/
  3. NCHERM Group: Due Process and the Sex Police: https://www.ncherm.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/TNG-Whitepaper-Final-Electronic-Version.pdf

The format will consist of a series of short presentations, followed by audience questions. The teleconference will be moderated by Cynthia Garrett, Esq.

The teleconference is open to state and federal lawmakers, media representatives, college administrators, and others.

To receive dial-in information, contact Steve Coleman: scoleman@saveservices.org

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

Categories
Campus Sexual Assault

PR: Campus Rape Tribunals are Shortchanging Victims: SAVE Urges Lawmakers to ‘Do Better’ Than SB.169

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

Campus Rape Tribunals are Shortchanging Victims: SAVE Urges Lawmakers to ‘Do Better’ Than SB.169

WASHINGTON / April 18, 2017 – In 2011 the federal Office for Civil Rights issued a directive that served to minimize the role of law enforcement in campus sexual assault cases. Following release of this policy, the number of federal complaints against colleges by identified victims increased dramatically from 300 a year to over 2,000 annually.

Ironically, the California Senate is now considering a bill, SB. 169, that would turn this controversial federal policy into state law. SAVE urges lawmakers to reject SB. 169, an ill-advised bill that would solidify a dysfunctional campus system.

Campus sexual assault is a violent crime and it should be treated as such. SB.169 would fail to provide identified victims and the school community the justice that these cases deserve. Since the release of the federal directive, 25 higher education institutions in California have been investigated by the Office for Civil Rights for alleged mishandling of sexual misconduct cases, arising from 37 separate complaints made by identified victims: http://projects.chronicle.com/titleix/investigations/?search_term=&states=California&start=&end=

In addition, 20 lawsuits have been filed against California universities by accused students. These students have alleged lack of due process and numerous Title IX violations: https://titleixforall.knack.com

SAVE is submitting testimony to the California Senate’s Standing Committee on Education for its upcoming hearing. The letter urges lawmakers to devise a comprehensive response to campus sexual assault that supports complainants, protects the school community, and aims to reliably identify perpetrators using an objective and equitable procedure: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/CA-SB.169-Testimony-.pdf

If SB.169 is adopted in its current form, SAVE believes campus disciplinary systems will continue to stumble along with inferior resources, opaque procedures, and questionable results. A detailed critique of the SB.169 bill can be seen at http://www.saveservices.org/camp/sb-169-we-can-do-better/.

A 2016 survey of California residents revealed a strong voter preference for campus sexual assault cases to be investigated and resolved by the criminal justice system: http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/opinion-polls/

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

Categories
Campus Press Release Sexual Assault Title IX

PR: SAVE Urges Massachusetts Lawmakers to End Campus Rape Tribunals

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

 

SAVE Urges Massachusetts Lawmakers to End Campus Rape Tribunals

 

WASHINGTON / April 10, 2017 – The current system of campus-based adjudications for sexual assault has turned out to be inefficient, unfair, and in some cases harmful, according to a report released by the non-profit group, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments. The report, “Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade,” was issued on the six-year anniversary of the controversial “Dear Colleague Letter” on sexual violence, first issued by the Department of Education on April 4, 2011.

 

The “Dear Colleague Letter” has not led to respectful, fair, and prompt resolutions. Rather, complaints to the Office for Civil Rights and federal lawsuits that identify flawed campus procedures increased six-fold after the Department of Education letter was released.

 

The SAVE report identifies numerous cases in which identified victims of sexual assault claimed their colleges failed to appropriately investigate, adjudicate, and sanction their complaints. In one case, a female student charged that campus authorities at Harvard University showed “deliberate indifference” to her sexual assault claim. Her claim focused not only on the school’s initial response, but also on the University’s failure to respond “to her multiple reports that she was subjected to continuous, retaliatory harassment by [John] Doe and his friends.”

 

Numerous accused students have filed federal lawsuits as well. In one recent case, a judge criticized Brandeis University for “appear[ing] to have substantially impaired, if not eliminated, an accused student’s right to a fair and impartial process.” Among the 51 known lawsuits filed by accused students since 2012, a majority of the rulings from federal judges have been decided at least partly in favor of the expelled student.

 

The Massachusetts legislature is currently considering S.706 and H.632 which would codify many provisions of the “Dear Colleague Letter.” Instead, SAVE urges the enactment of the Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act. CEFTA aims to protect all students by encouraging the referral of campus rape cases to law enforcement officials and providing due process: http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/cefta/.

 

Identified victims and accused students share a common, over-riding interest in assuring the investigative and adjudicatory process is conducted in a respectful, prompt, and fair manner in order to reach reliable outcomes.

 

The SAVE report can be viewed here: http://www.saveservices.org/reports/.

 

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

Categories
Campus Office for Civil Rights Sexual Assault

PR: Six-Year Experiment in Campus Sex Jurisprudence Found to Be a Failure: Report

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

 

Six-Year Experiment in Campus Sex Jurisprudence Found to Be a Failure: Report

WASHINGTON / April 4, 2017 – The current system of campus-based adjudications for sexual assault has turned out to be inefficient, unfair, and in some cases harmful, according to a report released today by the non-profit group, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments. The report, “Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade,” is being issued on the six-year anniversary of the controversial “Dear Colleague Letter” on sexual violence, first issued by the Department of Education on April 4, 2011.

The SAVE report identifies numerous cases in which identified victims of sexual assault claimed their colleges failed to appropriately investigate, adjudicate, and sanction their complaints. In one case, a female student charged that campus police at Old Dominion University detained her for eight hours, preventing her from seeking medical attention for the assault. In January, she filed a lawsuit against the university, requesting $75,000 in damages.

Many of these women’s cases have been reported to the federal Office for Civil Rights. The number of complaints has risen dramatically since 2013, leading to a growing backlog of investigations.

Male students have been wrongfully expelled based on false allegations of sexual assault, as well. Among the 51 lawsuits filed by accused students since 2012, a majority of judges have ruled at least partly in favor of the expelled student.

Some of the judges issued strongly worded critiques of the campus “Kangaroo Courts.” In one recent case, a judge ruled that the process at San Diego State University for adjudicating a sexual assault accusation was so biased that it was “enough to shock the Court’s conscience.”

Campus administrators have felt caught between shifting federal requirements and the reality of campus committees that lack the training, expertise, and resources to reliably adjudicate complex rape cases. Some colleges have spent millions of dollars in a sisyphean effort to comply with the federal requirements.

SAVE calls on the Department of Education to repeal its 2011 Dear Colleague Letter, which mandated that campus tribunals investigate and resolve rape allegations. Instead, SAVE urges the enactment of the Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act. CEFTA encourages the referral of campus rape cases to law enforcement officials and promotes due process: http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/cefta/

The SAVE report can be viewed here: http://www.saveservices.org/reports/

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