Jury Awards $100,000 to Wrongly Accused Student in Title IX Case

Teresa R. Manning

Last month, a jury awarded former Boston College student John Doe $100,000 for how the college mishandled sexual assault allegations against him. The case, Doe v. Trustees of Boston College, is the first of its kind to reach a jury since 2011, when Obama-era rules began to govern campus sexual misconduct claims. It joins a long line of other such cases claiming that Title IX offices are breaking the law.

Title IX is the federal law banning sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds. Since 2011, when the Obama Education Department issued a “Dear Colleague” letter declaring sexual violence a form of sex discrimination, colleges and universities have expanded their Title IX offices to process sexual misconduct complaints as potential discriminatory acts. Title IX “coordinators,” “investigators,” and “adjudicators” now act as police, jury, and judge for such accusations, which often result in suspension, expulsion, or summary ejection off campus for the accused.

Title IX officials rarely have formal legal training, however, and frequently abridge basic principles of justice, including those informing due process. Those principles include the accused’s presumption of innocence, the right of all parties to call and cross-examine witnesses, and — particularly relevant for this case — the right of all parties to see evidence, especially evidence that exonerates the accused or points to another suspect. In the case of John Doe at Boston College, the college not only ignored the obvious other suspect, but seemed not to care if it had the wrong guy.

Read the full article at The Federalist -->


Image: By BCLicious - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67650095

  • Share

Most Commented

September 6, 2024

1.

Professor Alleges "Widespread" Discriminatory Hiring Coverup at University of Washington

Audio acquired by the National Association of Scholars describes allegations of coverup race-based hiring coverup at the University of Washington...

October 29, 2024

2.

The Looming Irrelevance of Middle East Study Centers

Today’s Middle Eastern Studies Centers are facing a crisis due to the winds of change in the Middle East and their own ideological echo chamber....

September 25, 2024

3.

NAS Statement on University of Pennsylvania Sanction of Amy Wax

The National Association of Scholars is outraged—but not surprised—by Penn's decision to penalize Wax for exercising her academic freedom. ...

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

September 21, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Does YHWH Elohim Mean?

A reader asks, "If Elohim refers to multiple 'gods,' then Yhwh Elohim really means Lord of Gods...the one of many, right?" A Hebrew expert answers....