Here is another relevant article from October by a staff writer at The Vanderbilt Hustler:
Not that I know of, but every college must publish the Clery report each year, which shows number of rapes both on and off campus, as well as other crimes.
If you want to compare data across schools, you would have to do the math to adjust for number of students. School policies vary greatly in how they report or encourage reporting of crimes, especially rape. We also know that many rapes go unreported, for a variety of reasons.
Hereâs Vandyâs 2021 Clery report: https://police.vanderbilt.edu/pdfs/annual-security-report.pdf
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Allegations of felonies are matters for law enforcement and the judicial process, not college deans. Ever.
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The vulnerability of a victim should never justify a crime.
However, people should generally be aware of crime prevention methods to reduce their vulnerability to crime. A non-hot-button example is keeping your dorm room and main dorm doors locked when you are not there to reduce the chance of theft. In terms of rape and some other crimes (e.g. assault / fights, robbery), being drunk obviously increases oneâs vulnerability*. Also, many new frosh at residential colleges are naive about alcohol, so if their first experiences with alcohol is at college parties, that may be a higher risk of a bad outcome. In addition, predators sometimes commit the additional crime of drugging the victim beyond simple drunkenness before committing rape and/or other crimes.
*Drunkenness also increases the risk of bad judgement that can lead to committing a crime (e.g. getting into fights, or not being absolutely clear about getting consent when having sex).
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Thereâs another side to this story weâre not hearing. Iâm hearing âRAPE!â from one person. When alcohol is involved, it paints gray areas. We know she was drinking. We donât know how much he was drinking. Was it a predator looking for an opportunity? Or was it two drunk people actingâŠwellâŠdrunk? Those are two very different things. I canât make a judgment either way, because I donât have all the facts.
Just be aware that nothing good happens when alcohol is used irresponsibly. When you surrender control of your higher judgment, thereâs only so much you can blame on ârapeâ and thereâs only so much you can blame on alcohol. Alcohol affects people differently, and no one realizes how drunk they are when theyâre drunk.
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Did you read Franâs entire editorial? She clearly explains the lengthy process that happened and resulted in a 1,000 page report and a finding of âResponsible.â Vanderbilt had every reason to bury this case. If there was not absolutely overwhelming evidence that a rape occurred, I guarantee that a Responsible finding would not have been entered.
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âWhile Respondentâs severe level of intoxication does not excuse his misconduct under the Policy, I find it does mitigate my view of the severity of his conduct because the evidence does not establish malintent or an intentional disregard of Complainantâs lack of consent.â
When you have two people who are sloshed, sheâs not capable of giving consent, and heâs not capable of intentionally disregarding her lack of consent. Both are equally at fault. Getting drunk and having sex is sexual misconduct, but itâs not sexual assault. Theyâre two different things.
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Some acts may be illegal but not against college student conduct policies.
Some acts may be legal but against college student conduct policies.
Some acts may be both illegal and against college student conduct policies. These acts may be result in action taken by law enforcement and courts as well as college disciplinary processes. Examples at Vanderbilt include theft, trespassing, assault, vandalism, and forgery, as well as sexual misconduct.
But the above is orthogonal to third parties investigating sexual misconduct being prone to getting the verdict wrong. Law enforcement and courts do not have the best reputation here; college administrations, often with less skill at investigations, evidence, and judicial-type processes, are probably worse.
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Getting sloshed does not excuse or justify a criminal act. For example, if you get drunk and cause a car crash or start a fight, you may still be charged with a crime (and, in the car crash, the drunkenness may result in more charges and penalties).
Also, some sexual misconduct cases are due to predators taking advantage of drunk victims (possibly after additionally drugging them), as opposed to two drunk people being sloppy and unclear about consent. The predators may have been drinking, but not so much that they barely know what they are doing.
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Absolutely.
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No. She didnât assault him. He assaulted her. His intoxication doesnât excuse his assault. Neither does hers.
Colleges have different interests than the CJS. They also have codes of conduct that may overlap with criminal codes of conduct, but a potential violation of the latter doesnât exclude enforcement of the former. Different standards, different interests, different duties.
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Again, I refer you back to Franâs editorial. R. was found responsible for âNonconsensual sexual penetration.â
Please read Tennesseeâs statutory definition of rape, specifically §39-13-503(a)(2) and (3). https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tbi/documents/Definitions%20of%20Tennessee%20Sexual%20Offenses%20and%20Violent%20Sexual%20Offenses.pdf
The line that you quoteâwhich Fran to her credit willingly includesârepresents a defense in criminal law that has always been suspectânamely, getting off or mitigating punishment by causing the conditions of your own defense. Try that in my state, and youâd lose all credibility with the Court. If youâre interested, see Egelhoff, 518 U.S. 37 (1996) and its progeny.
No, I do not think felonies should ever be adjudicated at the college-misdemeanors like vandalism I can understand, but felonies? No, too much is at stake, and it is not within a schoolâs expertise or due process. Students should react as other adults do to an attack-call 911 if you have been a victim of a crime, not your landlord or your dean. Serious criminal matters are not appropriate for student conduct trials.
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Statutory law says that the defendant must have cause to believe the victim is âmentally defectiveâ at the time. How can he do that if theyâre both heavily intoxicated at the same time? This is the kind of case virtually every prosecutor would throw out, because it would never stand up in a criminal court. Both parties share culpability.
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I have a student at Vanderbilt currently and I find this article deeply disturbing. That being said, I am not in favor of colleges investigating and adjudicating these situations. We donât ask or expect colleges to investigate and adjudicate other types of alleged crimes. Alleged assaults should be reported to the police for investigation and assessed for prosecution by the DAs office.
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By your logic, a man who has had a drink and then rapes a woman whom he comes across passed out in the parking lot of the bar (whether from alcohol intoxication or some medical condition) is not guilty of sexual assault, because he was not capable of intentionally disregarding her lack of consent.
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The victim states that her friends were in contact with the perpetrator, and they told him that she was too drunk to consent, and they told him to stop. He was aware that it was not consensual. No excuses, because he was not passed out ⊠he had enough wherewithal to commit the assault after being by others told to stop. He chose not to stop.
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The defense that being drunk gives someone the right to rape another is not accepted as a valid defense in most jurisdictions, and even in those that it is technically allowed, it would likely not be accepted by the Court. Donât take my word for it, read what the Supreme Court says about it in Egelhoff and look at what these three less than liberal states have to say:
Florida: Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine
Texas: PENAL CODE CHAPTER 8. GENERAL DEFENSES TO CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
Michigan:http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(4cjqylhbaz3qvy4q5uyyb0jn))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-768-37
I get it, you believe that we should let young men get as drunk as they want and do whatever they want to a person who isnât able to defend themselves. You are not alone in your viewpoint, as is evidenced by this case. However, I would ask you to just think about the license this gives and has given young men.
This will be my last response to you. I think Iâve been quite clear.
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Being told by others to stop is irrelevant. The victim was a presumably competent adult capable of determining whether she wished to engage in legal sexual activities regardless of how others feel about that. Whether she became voluntarily temporarily incapacitated due to alcohol would have been a key factor. Whether he was similarly incapacitated would also be a factor.
Those who drink to the point of blackouts represent a danger to both themselves and others in many ways.
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To add to what @kelsmom mentioned, perpetrator after committing the assault was at two different parties drinking again. Seems to me he made a choice to not stop and commit the assault.
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