It’s astounding that they did this. It had bad idea written all over it.
The College Fix reports:
University under fire for requiring students to cross-examine each other in campus rape casesWhen an appeals court told the University of Michigan last year that it must allow cross-examination in sexual-misconduct proceedings, the judges gave the taxpayer-funded institution two options.It could let the student parties cross-examine each other, which would be cheaper but could subject students to “further harm or harassment.” Or it could let their “agents” handle cross-examination, most likely lawyers, and either pay for representation itself or let students hire their own lawyers.The university chose the cheaper option.UMich is facing blowback from both pro-accuser and due-process advocates for implementing an interim policy that is considered even worse than the process struck down by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.The interim policy, now eight months old, only allows cross-examination in sexual-misconduct proceedings if it is performed by the accusing and accused student – a situation the 6th Circuit was reluctant to endorse.The change caught the attention of the ACLU’s Michigan affiliate and its national Women’s Rights Project, which penned a joint letter to the university Thursday.They called on administrators to change this process so that “trained representatives” can conduct cross-examination, instead of accusers and accused students themselves.A spokesperson for UMich told The College Fix it was continuing to ban lawyers from representing students out of concern that the parties couldn’t afford the same level of representation.
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