The College Fix

Judith Grossman, a mother who identifies herself as a lifelong feminist, was shocked to learn that there is no longer any presumption of innocence in cases of alleged sexual assault. Her own son, who is a student at a small New England liberal arts college, was accused of “non-consensual sex” by an ex-girlfriend, in regard to an incident that had occurred several years before. Grossman says new federal Title IX policies that lower the standard of proof in such cases left her son with a slim chance for a fair defense.

Title IX, that so-called guarantor of equality between the sexes on college campuses, and as applied by a recent directive from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, has obliterated the presumption of innocence that is so foundational to our traditions of justice. On today’s college campuses, neither “beyond a reasonable doubt,” nor even the lesser “by clear and convincing evidence” standard of proof is required to establish guilt of sexual misconduct.

These safeguards of due process have, by order of the federal government, been replaced by what is known as “a preponderance of the evidence.” What this means, in plain English, is that all my son’s accuser needed to establish before a campus tribunal is that the allegations were “more likely than not” to have occurred by a margin of proof that can be as slim as 50.1% to 49.9%.

How does this campus tribunal proceed to evaluate the accusations? Upon what evidence is it able to make a judgment?

The frightening answer is that like the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, the tribunal does pretty much whatever it wants, showing scant regard for fundamental fairness, due process of law, and the well-established rules and procedures that have evolved under the Constitution for citizens’ protection. Who knew that American college students are required to surrender the Bill of Rights at the campus gates?

Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal.

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