That New York Times editorial justifying a lower standard of evidence for students accused of sexual assault is getting strong pushback from a group that advocates for accused students.
Judith Grossman, a lawyer and co-founder of Families Advocating for Campus Equality, wrote in a letter to the editor of the Times:
Far from a mere expulsion, those wrongfully accused yet caught in up in the campus tribunal process face life-altering devastation that places their education, careers and emotional stability in great jeopardy.
And while “preponderance” does apply in civil litigation as the standard of proof, that same litigation also affords both parties the right to discovery, the rules of evidence, the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses who are under oath, the right to a jury and the assurance of the experience of a presiding jurist, protections all missing in campus proceedings. …
Why should the Constitution be surrendered at the campus gates? And why, in an effort to protect alleged victims, should the solution be to create another class of victims?
UPDATE: Hans Bader, a former attorney in the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, offers up his rebuttal to the Times’ editorial.
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