Campus Faux Rape Wars - A New Hope

[maxparrish]

Slate has an interesting article focusing on the persecution of innocent males. So far 70 males have sued their universities. Some suits have been dismissed by unsympathetic judges who noted the different rules for private universities and/or who cited the Office of Civil Rights letter(s) of 'guidance' that 'approves' denial of the male students due process rights.

However, for those suits of public universities that survive the Orwellian influence of the OCR, there has been victories.

Most recently, there has been the case of Mr. Sterrett who was a freshman at the University of Michigan in the spring of 2012. A female student, CB, asked to stay in his dorm room. But rather than sleep on the mat on the floor, she got into the bunk bed with Mr. Sterrett, asking that he get a condom. They spent the night having wild and loud sex, to the annoyance of Sterrett's room-mate.

The semester ended, and Sterrett and CB left school for the summer. CB's mother discovered her daughter was drinking, taking drugs, and having sexual encounters at school, and confronted CB. CB's mother drove CB to campus to make the accusation (it was never reported to police).

During the summer, campus officials informed Sterrett via Skype that a student had made an allegation against him. When the tone of the interview turned hostile, he asked if he should retain a lawyer. He was told if he ended the interview the investigation would go on without him. He continued to talk.

Sterrett was never provided with the charges against him in writing. The single Skype interview turned out to be his sole encounter with the campus officials who decided the case. He could not question his accuser nor told the names of any witnesses the university interviewed in its inquiry. He returned in the fall and received a written notification being found guilty.

Sterrett was suspended from the school until 2016. After a series of appeals, his punishment was reduced, but he was placed on “disciplinary probation,” which would have put restrictions on his campus movements so onerous that, he concluded, complying with them was impossible. He had left for good.

Sterrett had acceptance from another college, but that was rescinded when it learned of the Michigan finding.

After Sterrett filed suit, the University of Michigan tried for dismissal of his case. The judge refused. So they settled with Sterrett, removing his "conviction" from their records. However, his case remains on google. He hopes to return to school one day.

Two years later, 2014, CB filed a complaint with the OCR asserting her treatment by the university violated her civil rights. She wants the University to pay for her “additional educational expenses” and attorney fees because it took too long. OCR added the University of Michigan to a list of schools, now numbering about 130, they are investigating for violation of Title IX.

There is 'new hope' though...

California Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman recently ruled that the University of California, San Diego, did not give a fair hearing to a male student suspended for a sexual encounter. Pressman’s finding noted the student’s inability to ask questions or to see witness statements. The judge said the school “abused its discretion” when it increased the punishment of the accused following his appeal.... He wrote, “The sequence of events do not demonstrate non-consensual behavior. What the evidence does show is Ms. Roe’s personal regret for engaging in sexual activity beyond her boundaries.” (The University of California Regents are appealing the ruling.)

In Tennessee, Chancery Court Judge Carol McCoy overturned the expulsion of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestler Corey Mock. He was punished for a sexual encounter that a young woman said was nonconsensual and Mock said was consensual. McCoy took aim at the “affirmative consent” standard that is becoming the norm on campuses and is required by law at public and private institutions of higher education in California and New York. These standards hold that consent must be explicitly expressed, preferably verbally, for each escalation of a sexual encounter each time an encounter takes place. McCoy found that because of the school’s policy on consent the “UTC Chancellor improperly shifted the burden of proof and imposed an untenable standard on Mr. Mock to disprove the accusation …” She also wrote that the policy “is flawed and untenable if due process is to be afforded to the accused.”

http://www.slate.com/articles/doubl...chigan_the_school_vacates_its_findings.2.html