Cliff notes version is that guy and girl have multiple occasions of consensual sex. Later, girl says she was drunk for the first occasion, files a complaint. Guy is found not guilty, but girl appeals. The rest of this bizarre story:
The author of this article (Ashe Schow) has been doing excellent work on how college processes fail basic standards of American justice, in particular failing to follow standard rules of evidence and denying the defendant’s right to a fair hearing. A little progress is being made, but the basic problem is that campus hearings do not hold to the standards of hearings and trials in the regular justice system. The presumption of innocence, the right to interrogate or impeach witnesses are not guaranteed in campus conduct hearings.
I don’t always care for the Examiner, but this article is spot on. In the abstract, are there cases that are best handled by colleges and not courts of law? Yes, there are some. Unfortunately, many colleges are setting themselves up as judge, jury, and executioner, and doing a rather poor job of it as well. We’ve seen it at Columbia, and now at JMU. Processes like the one described here can easily spare the guilty, punish the innocent, and leave all parties unhappy.
I think we need much clearer guidelines and a set of best practices before colleges can be trusted to handle cases like these (although a rape case, as opposed to groping or “mild” sexual harassment, should always be referred to local police anyway).