Due Process Group Seeks End to Campus Kangaroo Courts

Due Process Group Seeks End to Campus Kangaroo Courts

In recent years, driven in part by federal directives and radical leftist feminism, we’re at the point where college males who are accused of sexual misconduct are more likely to be tried in a campus ‘Kangaroo Courts’ than a court of law, as we wrote in Kangaroo courts for men on campus:

The media often wonders why young men are staying away from universities and colleges. Perhaps the hostile environment on campuses is part of the reason.

Universities, protected by law and compelled by a directive from the Obama Department of Education, have established a kangaroo campus court system in which young men regularly face life-changing quasi-judicial proceedings based on accusations of sexual misconduct at which they have little due process protection.

At College Insurrection we highlighted one such case at Brown University, University without shame: How Brown betrayed one of its students.

But these cases take place regularly as documented by The FIRE organization.

Democratic politicians and vocal feminist groups demagogue the fictitious “war on women.”

On campuses, there is a very real war on men, but few seem to care.

To make matters worse, conduct codes at many schools have been altered to greatly expand behavior which counts as sexual misconduct, including so-called “affirmative consent” requirements. In an essay for Time, Christina Hoff Sommers, author of The War on Boys, vividly portrayed the problem facing male students in the “rape culture” environment:

On January 27, 2010, University of North Dakota officials charged undergraduate Caleb Warner with sexually assaulting a fellow student. He insisted the encounter was consensual, but was found guilty by a campus tribunal and thereupon expelled and banned from campus.

A few months later, Warner received surprising news. The local police had determined not only that Warner was innocent, but that the alleged victim had deliberately falsified her charges. She was charged with lying to police for filing a false report, and fled the state.

Cases like Warner’s are proliferating. Here is a partial list of young men who have recently filed lawsuits against their schools for what appear to be gross mistreatment in campus sexual assault tribunals: Drew Sterrett—University of Michigan, “John Doe”—Swarthmore, Anthony Villar—Philadelphia University, Peter Yu—Vassar, Andre Henry—Delaware State, Dez Wells—Xavier, and Zackary Hunt—Denison. Presumed guilty is the new legal principle where sex is concerned.

Now one group is looking to change that. Toni Airaksinen reports at The College Fix:

Due-process group launches campaign to ‘End Kangaroo Courts’ on campus, bring back ‘rule of law’

With the inauguration of a new president, a nonprofit group that advocates for students’ due-process rights is launching a campaign to take sexual-assault investigations out of the hands of college bureaucrats.

The campaign by Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), “End Kangaroo Courts,” calls for “a wide-ranging re-evaluation of the role of campus disciplinary committees in adjudicating allegations of felony-level sexual assaults.”

The intent is to “assure justice and fairness for both sexual assault victims and for the accused,” SAVE said in a press release.

It cited a University of Kentucky investigation that resulted in three internal appeals in favor of the accused student, owing to due-process violations.

The accuser sued the school for putting her through repeated proceedings, and a judge let her suit continue, blasting UK for having “bungled” the proceedings “inexcusably” and showing “deliberate indifference” to the accuser.

The campaign will include “meetings with state lawmakers, radio interviews, a whiteboard video” and other elements, SAVE said.

Here’s the promotional video from SAVE, mentioned above:

Here’s an official press release from SAVE:

SAVE Calls for End of Campus ‘Kangaroo Courts’

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).

Featured image via YouTube.

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