Category: Sexual Assault

PR: SAVE Urges Massachusetts Lawmakers to End Campus Rape Tribunals

Post author By saveadmin
Post date April 10, 2017

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

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

Campus Office for Civil Rights Sexual Assault

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

Post author By saveadmin
Post date April 4, 2017

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

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: Milestone ACTL Report Recasts Sex Assault Debate; SAVE Calls for End to Campus Kangaroo Courts

Post author By saveadmin
Post date March 27, 2017

Contact: Chris Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

Milestone ACTL Report Recasts Sex Assault Debate; SAVE Calls for End to Campus Kangaroo Courts

WASHINGTON / March 27, 2017 – The American College of Trial Lawyers has issued a watershed White Paper that highlights how the current system of campus rape tribunals shortchanges both victims and accused students, thereby undermining the goal of curbing campus rape. The report issues a bold indictment of the current federally mandated regime, charging, “Under the current system, everyone loses.” https://www.actl.com/library/white-paper-campus-sexual-assault-investigations

“Procedural justice can reduce recidivism and ensure sexual assault investigations are regarded with seriousness and respect,” the ACTL paper notes, “ending the backlash incurred by any public perception that these investigations serve only to railroad and scapegoat individual men.”

The ACTL statement further explains, “if alleged perpetrators are treated fairly, they are more likely to accept a decision of culpability.” Likewise, Harvard law professor Nancy Gertner has noted that “It takes only a few celebrated false accusations of rape to turn the clock back.”

The statement cites a case at Washington and Lee University in Virginia in which a student was persuaded to file a sexual assault claim after reading an article positing that “sexual assault occurs whenever a woman has consensual sex with a man and regrets it because she had internal reservations.” Such cases serve to invite public ridicule and undermine the effort to rid sexual assault from college campuses, SAVE believes.

The White Paper makes recommendations regarding the need for procedural due process; impartial investigations; the rights to counsel, access evidence, and notice of allegations; cross-examination; and the inadequacy of the preponderance of evidence standard.

“Under the current system everyone loses: accused students are deprived of fundamental fairness, complainants’ experiences are unintentionally eroded and undermined, and colleges and universities are trapped between the two,” the report concludes.

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments calls on the Office for Civil Rights to retract its unlawful campus sexual assault directives, and encourages the referral of felony-level allegations of rape to criminal justice experts: http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/cefta/

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

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: Following Reports of Continued Abuses, SAVE Proposes Stronger Campus Sexual Assault Legislation

Post author By saveadmin
Post date February 28, 2017

Contact: Jonathon Andrews

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: jandrews@saveservices.org

Following Reports of Continued Abuses, SAVE Proposes Stronger Campus Sexual Assault Legislation

WASHINGTON / February 27, 2017 – In the wake of ongoing reports of campus proceedings that shortchange sexual assault victims and the accused, SAVE is releasing a stronger version of its Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act. The revised bill enhances the involvement of local law enforcement agencies for allegations of sexual violence. The CEFTA bill also strengthens due process protections and the presumption of innocence for accused students.

The revised model bill follows last week’s revelations that the University of Alaska signed a settlement agreement with the federal Office for Civil Rights agreeing to reinvestigate 23 cases of alleged sexual assault. In many cases, the university did not provide complainants temporary relief, like classroom changes or new living situations while the cases were investigated (1).

The revised model bill also comes in the wake of a February 24 report of a California Superior Court judge who ruled the sexual assault resolution procedures at San Diego State University were so riddled with conflict-of-interest that they were “enough to shock the Court’s conscience.” The judge remanded the case back to the university (2).

SAVE’s revised model bill makes these and other changes:

Allegations of sexual violence will be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency, if possible and with the consent of the complainant.
Institutions shall not be obligated to begin any disciplinary process that is not initiated at the request of the complainant.
The institution shall not investigate an allegation as long as the criminal proceeding is pending.
Institutions will use at least a “clear and convincing” standard when suspension or expulsion is a possible sanction.
Institutions will create a voluntary Alternative Dispute Resolution process.

The model bill is available on the SAVE website (3).

Numerous public opinion surveys show a strong majority of Americans favor the involvement of criminal justice officials in campus rape cases (4). SAVE is currently conducting a campaign to End Kangaroo Courts (5).

Citations:

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

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: ‘Kangaroo Courts’ on the Loose: SAVE Urges Lawmakers to End Campus Rape Tribunals

Post author By saveadmin
Post date February 14, 2017

Contact: Jon Andrews

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: jandrews@saveservices.org

‘Kangaroo Courts’ on the Loose: SAVE Urges Lawmakers to End Campus Rape Tribunals

WASHINGTON / February 14, 2017 – Recent reports at Baylor, Stanford, and Tufts universities reveal campus disciplinary committees lack competent staff, adhere to flawed policies, and suffer from severe conflict of interest problems. As a result, sexual assault victims and accused students alike are being shortchanged.

In late January, lawsuits were filed by two former female students against Baylor University. The women charged school coaches were inappropriately involved in disciplinary and criminal matters for sexual assault cases, among other allegations. http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18569197

Last week, the Editorial Board of the Stanford Review issued a strongly worded verdict on its college’s sexual assault policies: “At Stanford, we have seen firsthand what many students and faculty are recognizing nationally: the reforms have failed. Sexual assault investigations usually fail to secure both relief for victims and civil liberties for the accused.” https://stanfordreview.org/dear-betsy-restore-justice-to-title-ix-c7c72df7616c#.kihodp3vw

On February 9, an exposé strongly critical of the Title IX policies at Tufts University was released. The report charged sexual assault investigators possessed far too much discretionary power and were not held to proper standards of impartiality. The report also revealed that Title IX training materials were being kept secret. http://www.sa4s.org/single-post/2017/02/09/Tufts-University%E2%80%99s-Title-IX-Policies-Inadequately-Protect-Victims

Affirmative consent policies appear to have lost much of their appeal. Last year, 11 states considered affirmative consent bill, but only in Connecticut did lawmakers approve the bill. All the other states – Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia – opted to not enact affirmative consent policies. http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/affirmative-consent/

In Georgia, legislators are now considering a bill that would require the referral of all felony-level allegations of sexual assault to local law enforcement. Sponsored by Rep. Earl Ehrhart, the bill was approved by a key committee two weeks ago. http://watchdog.org/288049/due-process-bill-clears-first-hurdle-georgia/

SAVE has developed a model sexual assault bill titled the Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act that is designed to encourage the referral of allegations of criminal sexual offenses to criminal justice officials: http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/cefta/

More information on the problems of campus rape adjudications is available here: http://www.saveservices.org/camp/kangaroo-courts/

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

Campus Sexual Assault

SAVE Calls for End of Campus ‘Kangaroo Courts’

Post author By saveadmin
Post date January 24, 2017

Contact: Jonathon Andrews

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: jandrews@saveservices.org

SAVE Calls for End of Campus ‘Kangaroo Courts’

WASHINGTON / January 24, 2017 – In the wake of continuing reports of incompetence and neglect, SAVE is calling for a wide-ranging re-evaluation of the role of campus disciplinary committees in adjudicating allegations of felony-level sexual assaults.

Last week, for example, it was reported that a rape tribunal at the University of Kentucky repeatedly violated the accused student’s due process rights, leading to three appeals and three re-hearings on the case. As the process dragged on for two-years, the woman’s mental health began to deteriorate. She eventually filed a lawsuit.

In response, District Court Judge Joseph Hood issued a strongly worded ruling, suggesting the University may have acted with “deliberate indifference.” The Judge concluded, “the University bungled the disciplinary hearings so badly, so inexcusably, that it necessitated three appeals and reversals in an attempt to remedy the due process deficiencies.” These problems “profoundly affected Plaintiff’s ability to obtain an education at the University of Kentucky.” (1)

Numerous expelled students have filed lawsuits as well, charging that their former universities ignored fundamental due process protections. In 30 cases, judges have ruled at least partly in favor of the accused students (2). Many of these lawsuits arose from schools’ use of “victim-centered” investigations in which the guilt of the accused party was presumed (3).

The American public supports the need for criminal justice involvement in campus cases. One national survey found that 91% of likely voters agreed with the statement that “The justice system, not colleges, should be primarily responsible for deciding if students are guilty of sexual misconduct or assault.” (4)

Today SAVE is launching its End Kangaroo Courts campaign to assure justice and fairness for both sexual assault victims and for the accused. The campaign will consist of meetings with state lawmakers, radio interviews, a whiteboard video, and more (5). SAVE is inviting state lawmakers to introduce the Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act (CEFTA), which seeks to involve the criminal justice system in campus sex cases (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

Affirmative Consent for Sex: R.I.P.?

Post author By saveadmin
Post date December 28, 2016

Contact: Gina Lauterio

Email: glauterio@saveservices.org

Affirmative Consent for Sex: R.I.P.?

WASHINGTON / December 28, 2016 – Following heated debates on campus sexual assault, legislators in 10 out of 11 jurisdictions decided to not enact affirmative consent legislation in their states in 2016. Connecticut was the only state to pass an affirmative consent bill into legislation (1). California was the first state to enact such legislation at the end of 2014, and Connecticut is only the third state, after New York, to adopt such a law (2).

The major news story for campus sexual assault in 2016 was the sexual assault case involving Brock Turner at Stanford University. This incident occurred in California, despite the existence of a widely touted affirmative consent law in that state. The case highlighted the necessity for greater law enforcement involvement in such crimes (3).

Affirmative consent proposals experienced a range of other set-backs in 2016, suggesting a turn to other strategies to end campus sexual assault:

In March, a federal District Court ridiculed the Brandeis University affirmative consent policy. Judge Dennis Saylor wrote, “it is absurd to suggest that it makes no difference whatsoever whether the other party is a total stranger or a long-term partner in an apparently happy relationship” (4).

In May the membership of the prestigious American Law Institute, by a four-to-one margin, voted down a proposal to make affirmative consent the centerpiece of a proposed overhaul of its Model Penal Code for Sexual Assault (5).

In August, a study found “yes-means-yes” policies bear little relationship to the reality of sexual foreplay among college students. Based on interviews with California students, sexual encounters reportedly “just happened” following, for example, a nuzzling of the neck or tug on a partner’s sweatpants (6).

SAVE believes sexual assault is a crime, and should be treated as a crime. In January, SAVE will launch its Safe Students in ’17 campaign, which will feature its model Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act (CEFTA), designed to further involve criminal justice experts in campus sexual assault cases (7).

Citations:

Campus Sexual Assault

PR: Wesley College Determination Letter, Presidential Election May Portend Overhaul of Campus Sexual Assault Procedures

Post author By saveadmin
Post date November 18, 2016

Contact: Christopher Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry(at)saveservices.org

Wesley College Determination Letter, Presidential Election May Portend Overhaul of Campus Sexual Assault Procedures

WASHINGTON / November 18, 2016 – A recent Determination Letter from the federal Office for Civil Rights, along with impending administrative changes at the Department of Education, highlight the need for college administrators to reassess their campus investigative and adjudicatory procedures in sexual assault cases to assure fairness and reliable outcomes.

In April 2015, a student who formerly attended Wesley College of Delaware who was accused of videotaping a sexual encounter without consent, filed a Title IX complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. The student alleged that the college failed to provide a full opportunity for him to respond to the charges, rebut the allegations, or defend himself at his hearing.

The subsequent OCR Determination Letter documented a broad array of due process violations (1). Based on these findings, Wesley College agreed to implement numerous provisions to bring its school into compliance with Title IX, including:

Providing for an adequate, reliable, and impartial investigation of all complaints
Providing an equal opportunity for the parties to present witnesses and other evidence
Providing equal access to information being considered during the adjudication process
Complying with law enforcement requests for cooperation, and temporarily suspend its own investigation while law enforcement is in the process of gathering evidence.
Revising school policies so parties would not be prohibited from discussing information related to their complaint with others.
Conducting a careful inquiry into the risk of harm to the school community, prior to imposing any interim suspension.

The recent OCR Determination Letter was the first time the U.S. agency has investigated alleged due process shortcomings at a college.

In addition, last week’s presidential election is certain to alter the political landscape for the Department of Education. According to Gerard Robinson, a leader in president-elect Trump’s transition team, the Office for Civil Rights needs to revise its policies to ensure that students’ rights are not “trampled on” (2). “I think you can be certain that OCR will be downsized and will be less prominent in a Trump administration,” according to Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (3).

Earlier this week, SAVE assembled an expert panel to discuss how the incoming Trump Administration is likely to alter the Office for Civil Rights sexual assault policies. The SAVE representatives on the panel recommended that schools take decisive steps to assure due process for accused students, including elimination of single-investigator models and victim-centered investigations, which make a presumption of guilt and make it difficult, if not impossible for an innocent student to prove his innocence (4).

Citations:

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, a non-profit organization, is working for effective and fair solutions to the problem of campus sexual assault.

Campus False Allegations Sexual Assault

PR: Rolling Stone Verdict Highlights Need for State Lawmakers to Bring an End to Campus Rape Vigilantism

Post author By saveadmin
Post date November 7, 2016

Contact: Gina Lauterio

Email: glauterio@saveservices.org

Rolling Stone Verdict Highlights Need for State Lawmakers to Bring an End to Campus Rape Vigilantism

WASHINGTON / November 7, 2016 – A federal jury decided on Friday that Rolling Stone magazine was responsible for libel and acted with “actual malice” in its reporting of an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. Later this week the jurors will decide on UVA dean Nicole Eramo’s $7.5 million lawsuit demand (1).

Thousands of news accounts and internet sites have now identified the UVA rape accuser as Jackie Coakley of Charlottesville, Virginia (2).

Coakley alleged that a student named “Drew” brought her to the fraternity house where she was led upstairs and brutally raped by seven men. When the assault was reported to Nicole Eramo, head of UVA’s Sexual Misconduct Board, Coakley alleged Eramo was more interested in protecting the university’s reputation than helping sexual assault survivors.

Shortly after the article was published, the fraternity house where the rape allegedly occurred was vandalized, forcing its residents to go into hiding; violent protests were held on campus; and death threats were directed to Eramo (3). University president Teresa Sullivan suspended all Greek organizations. Subsequently, the number of applications to the University fell to the lowest level since 2002.

“Eventually, it was revealed that Coakley hadn’t been raped at all, and had apparently invented her story as part of a convoluted scheme to win the affections of a boy she had a crush on,” according to reporter Blake Neff (4).

Columnist Mollie Hemingway noted that the “rape culture craze has led to attacks on the civil liberties of men and created a panic built on emotion more than reality,” Hemingway lamented that as a result of the UVA events, “Actual victims of rape will suffer and not be believed” (5).

Commentator Robby Soave concluded, “If we’re going to make college a safer environment—for both victims of sexual assault, and the wrongfully accused and maligned—the truth has got to matter more than the story” (6).

SAVE has developed a model bill titled the Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act. CEFTA mandates a series of due process protections for the accused and encourages the involvement of local criminal justice authorities in campus sexual assault cases (7).

References:

SAVE is working for practical and effective solutions to campus sexual assault: www.saveservices.org

Campus Sexual Assault Special Report Victim-Centered Investigations

PR: Railroading the Innocent: SAVE Calls on University Administrators to End ‘Victim-Centered’ Investigations

Post author By saveadmin
Post date October 26, 2016

Contact: Christopher Perry

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: cperry@saveservices.org

Railroading the Innocent: SAVE Calls on University Administrators to End ‘Victim-Centered’ Investigations

WASHINGTON / October 26, 2016 – A report issued today probes a recent spate of lawsuits against universities, and calls on college administrators to stop the use of so-called “victim-centered” investigations to probe allegations of campus sexual assault. The report concludes such methods are “inconsistent with the most basic notions of fairness, repudiate the presumption of innocence, and are likely to lead to wrongful determinations of guilt, thereby increasing schools’ liability exposure.”

Titled “Victim-Centered Investigations: New Liability Risk for Colleges and Universities,” the report analyses 18 lawsuits filed by students who had been accused of sexual misconduct, and in which the judge ruled in favor of the accused student. In all 18 cases, students alleged the university committed investigational improprieties. The paper classifies the investigational flaws into categories such as “Incomplete/Inadequate Collection of Evidence” and “Overt Bias/Predetermination of Guilt.” (1)

The report also highlights the recent Office for Civil Rights determination against Wesley College of Delaware. According to the OCR, the college did not conduct any meaningful investigation of the accused student’s perspective. The Washington Post concluded, “In this case, the OCR found virtually everything wrong and therefore, a violation of Title IX’s protections against discrimination.”

“Victim-centered” methods abandon traditional notions of impartiality and objectivity. They instead call on investigators to presume that “all sexual assault cases are valid unless established otherwise by investigative findings” (2). Harvard Law School professor Jeannie Suk describes the victim-centered concept as an extreme “near-religious teaching” that is likely to discredit future rape victims (3). An Expert Panel composed of attorneys and professional investigators recently rejected “victim-centered” methods, calling for them to be replaced by “justice-centered” approaches (4).

SAVE has developed a model bill titled the Campus Equality, Fairness, and Transparency Act (CEFTA). The bill mandates the use of “justice-centered” investigations that would require campus investigators to “discharge their duties with objectivity and impartiality” (5). More information about victim-centered investigations is available (6).

Citations:

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