11 Jun 2014

List of US Lawsuits Against Colleges and Universities Alleging Due Process Violations in Adjudicating Sexual Assault

By On April 4, 2011 the US Department of Education issued its disastrous Dear Colleague” letter to colleges and universities across the United States, requiring administrators who had neither the investigative nor prosecutorial prowess of the criminal justice system to determine the guilt and innocence of students accused of felony sexual assault, and to reach their conclusions independent of whatever the police and courts decide.
Worse – the Department of Education demanded these schools determine guilt via a radically low standard of evidence for sex-assault cases: the “preponderance of evidence” standard. Under this model if an administrator feels that there might be a 50.01% chance that the alleged crime occurred, he/she must find the student guilty (“responsible”) for sexual assault. This is further complicated by the lack of numerous other procedural safeguards and methods of evidentiary examination.
Predictably, a wave of lawsuits soon erupted as young men wrongly accused of sex crimes found themselves hustled through a vague and misshapen adjudication process with slipshod checks and balances and Kafkaesque standards of evidence. This page is dedicated to cataloging their legal challenges against schools which – they allege – have violated their rights to due process, unjustly destroyed their names, deprived them of educational opportunities, and committed various other crimes against them in the process of just following orders.”

A few things to note:

  1. This list is sorted alphabetically by state, then by school.
  2. Blank cells refer to information not yet obtained or determined rather than left out through error.
  3. This list will be periodically updated. If you know of any cases that are not covered here, please inform this site in the comments section at the bottom, or via the contact form.
  4. Thanks to Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) and National Coalition for Men-Carolinas for sending me their lists. What follows is my own revision of their lists, with some additions and subtractions.

About Jonathan Taylor
Jonathan Taylor, sometimes known as "TCM" ("The Common Man") is a long time reader of A Voice for Men who has decided to make contributions here for the men's movement. He is now the proprietor of "A Voice for Male Students."

Source

 

List of Lawsuits Against Colleges and Universities Alleging Due Process and Other Violations in Adjudicating Sexual Assault
State
School
Plaintiff
Plaintiff’s Attorney
Key Documents / Summary
Outcome
California Occidental College John Doe Mark Werksman,Mark Hathaway (1) Official complaint, part I, (2) official complaint, part II (includes screenshots of text messages between accuser / accused), (3) article by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Pending.
Delaware Delaware State University Andre L. Henry Daniel C. Herr Story from Inside Higher Ed. Pending.
Indiana DePauw University Benjamin King
Story in the university newspaper (page 1 and page 3). Pending.
Massachusetts College of the Holy Cross Edwin Bleiler Nicole Collby Longton (1) Official complaint, (2) the school’s response, (3) article by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Bleiler was acquitted, the school’s “finding” (judgment) against him was overturned, and he was reinstated.
Massachusetts Williams College John Doe
Official complaint (fee required). Pending.
Michigan University of Michigan – Ann Arbor Drew Sterrett Deborah Gordon Official complaint. Pending.
New Jersey Drew University Kevin Parisi Solomon Rubin Story in NJ.com. Pending.
New York Columbia University John Doe Andrew T. Miltenberg Official complaint. Pending.
New York Vassar College Peter Yu Andrew Miltenberg (1) Official complaint, (2) Vassar College’s official reply Pending.
North Carolina Duke University Lewis McLeod Rachel B. Hitch (1) Official complaint, (2) article in the Wall Street Journal, (3) injunction by judge Osmond Smith blocking Duke’s expulsion of McLeod Pending.
North Carolina Duke University Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, David Evans
(1) Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 2007, (2) Durham-in-Wonderland Players declared innocent, received settlement; 2007.
Ohio Denison University Zackary Hunt Eric Rosenberg Article in The Denisonian (Denison U Student Newspaper) Confidential settlement; 2014
Ohio Kenyon College Stephen Zingarelli Gregory O’Brien, Eric Weiss Article in The Collegian (Kenyon College student newspaper) Pending.
Ohio University of Cincinnati Ethan Peloe
Official complaint. Pending.
Ohio Xavier University Dezmine Wells Peter Ginsberg Official complaint. Confidential settlement; 2014.
Pennsylvania Bucknell University Reed Dempsey Stephen Becker Official complaint. Charges against the university dismissed. Charges against police department pending.
Pennsylvania Philadelphia University Anthony Villar
Story in Philadelphia magazine. Pending.
Pennsylvania Saint Joseph’s University Brian Harris Kenneth Dubrow Official complaint. Pending.
Pennsylvania Swarthmore College John Doe Patricia Hamill Official complaint. Pending.
Rhode Island Brown University Adam Lack
Story in the Brown Daily Herald. Confidential settlement; 1998
Rhode Island Brown University William McCormick J. Scott Kilpatrick Story in the Brown Spectator Confidential settlement; 2011
Tennessee Sewanee, The University of the South John Doe Charles Wayne, Elisha King Official Complaint: Doe v. University of the South 2011 WL 1258104 University found negligent; plaintiff awarded $26k; 2011

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