A male student identified as “John Doe” has sued Amherst College for allegedly denying him due process and ignoring evidence that he says proved another students Sandra Jones, lied about an alleged rape at the college. This is the second such lawsuit accusing the school of stripping students of due process in the handling of sexual harassment or assault claims. I have previously written about my concerns over the heavy-handed measures that the Obama Administration has forced on universities over the objections of faculty and students alike in such cases.
The controversy stems from February 2012 when the male student escorted his girlfriend’s roommate, Sandra Jones, back to her residence hall. Jones reportedly performed oral sex on him and Doe alleges that he blacked out during the encounter. Two years after the incident, Jones reportedly accused Doe of sexually assaulting her and the school compelled Doe to face a school rape trial. The trial had many of the elements that I criticized earlier, including the absence of any legal representation.
Notably, the former student never appears to have been charged with a criminal offense in the case by local authorities. There is no reference to the alleged victim filing a rape complaint with police.
One piece of evidence was a text message that was said to have been sent after the rape. Doe’s later legal counsel found that the text message did not seek help but rather suggested that the encounter was consensual:
Jones: Ohmygod I jus did something so fuckig stupid
DR: What did you do
Jones: Fucked [Doe]… FUCK
DR: No you didn’t…
Jones: Official story is he puked and I took care of him but yes. Yes I did. FUCK
DR: [Jones] what are you doing????????
Jones: Oh and apparently [ML]s coming over so nothing happened everything’s fine
Counsel says that “ML” was a male friend that Jones invited over on the same night after Doe had left. Counsel further alleges that the later texts include a flirtatious exchange between Jones and ML in which the alleged victim urged the male student to “come over and entertain me.”
If true, the allegations again show the need for representation and due process rights in these proceedings despite the effort of the Obama Administration to strip away such basic protections. Regardless of the merits, these trials lacks the fundamental guarantees of due process that bring legitimacy to the results. The Obama Administration has sought to create highly outcome determinative procedures in such cases. The effort to combat sexual assault at universities and colleges is commendable and I agree with it being a priority. However, stripping away legal protections is not a valid means to that worthy end in my view.
Source: Boston Globe
The deprivation of the civil rights of male students is occurring by means of racketeering and witness intimidation. A falsely accused student’s life is ruined even if he is found not responsible. It is doubly ruined if he publicly defends himself. This is the nature of the witch hunt. Universities are causing these violations under color of law, which is to say that they are encouraging sexual harassment under pretense of preventing it. A false allegation is sexual harassment. It is a boon of impunity because the politics of the matter simply make a class action too intimidating to bring, an impossibly expensive. So prospective victims of false allegations have no recourse. And once accused, they have no recourse but for the rare student whose parents have significant cash reserves to pay an attorney.
To understand the scope of the bad faith and misinformation in this national crisis, see the recent Washington Post survey research co-sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The subterfuge and blatant misrepresentations in the newspaper and the survey itself. The finding that 20% of college women will be sexually assaulted is not supported by the data. The data in that survey actually refutes that widely published finding. The result is that universities are on false notice that there is an alarming rate of sexual assault on their campuses. There is not. This leads them to leap to solutions and violate the rights of students. It is possible to prove this by examining the orientation directives of the university in their materials on sexual assault and harassment. They misinform students about what their rights are and they typically embrace demonstrably false definitions of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
The woman, Anna Seward, works for Amherst (in the library billing department). So they are still able to act on her lies.
The entire process shows how absurd the campus rape hysterics are. They didn’t investigate anything, while Doe’s outside counsel was able to discover definitive proof very quickly. The system allowed her to contradict her sworn testimony in material ways. For example she originally claimed the entire oral sex encounter was non-consensual, then changed her story so it stared consensual but withdrew consent. Essentially they were going to do whatever it took to rule in her favor. If a question might have resulted in evidence against her they made sure they didn’t ask it.
These are truly awful people.
“Where is the ACLU?”
They are looking for their testicles. PC women stole them 20 years ago.
From the Boston Globe article, the Turley article, or other material, I could not determine if the so called rape victim ever testified under oath before some tribunal at Amherst. Or, if she did so, was the accused student sitting there in her presence and was he or counsel allowed to cross examine the so called victim. They adjudicated this on the basis of “a preponderance of evidence” NOT “beyond a reasonable doubt” or even “clear and convincing evidence”. The emails from the woman speak for themselves and for her.
Amherst needs to be made an example here. A huge judgment of dollars is not enough. They need to be deprived of their status as a college or university and the President and staff need to be fired. The best thing would be some sort of court supervision of the college. Do not allow the college to defame any teacher or student. Do not allow them to discipline either.
Where is the ACLU on this issue?
Amherst is a disgrace to America. Move that college to Afghanistan.
Sickening miscarriage of justice. One more example of how “identity politics” play out in real life. Megyn Kelly reported on this last week, and here is her interview with the student’s attorney:
http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/06/17/megyn-kelly-talks-attorney-student-expelled-alleged-amherst-college-rape
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Damages should be money and education at a university of choice thru degree of choice.
Obama and his minions have this thing going thru the Dept of Ed where they are getting the colleges and Univ to put in new rape guidelines (read male is guilty). How can we forget the one where if the girl has one drink and they have sex she cannot give consent. Of course, the guy can give consent.
Someone is going to end up owning one of these schools.
The male accused is guilty until proven innocent and the accusers have been allowed to harass them on campus. Once a man is accused, the wheel starts moving to throw him out of school, with no disclosure, no trial, just an accusation. And this has come about because of the threat of removing federal funding unless universities crack down on campus rape. So along with actual, forcible rape comes day after regret, revenge, or any other motivation for filing a false claim.
Rape is a very serious crime. This lawless trend does not seek justice.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/20/accused-is-guilty-campus-rape-tribunals-punish-without-proof-say-critics/
Every time an innocent man loses his education, reputation, and his entire college experience is ruined, he should sue the accuser AND the school. Cause (expulsion without evidence) and effect (it will cost the school money) will actually train them to act better next time. AND they also need to crack down on filing a knowingly false report. I’m not talking about a sincere case with shaky evidence that was not able to get a conviction. I mean cases where, like this, there is evidence that it was a complete fabrication.
This plaintiff has been incredibly damaged by Amherst. I think that a jury will be careful about putting Amherst in the sewer but that this will result in an award of over a million dollars. This is defamation at its worst.
If any of you readers are alumni of Amherst then please advise them of their stupid conduct here. They won’t figure it out until they get hammered. Then they won’t figure it out. Someone needs to send this blog to an Amherst newspaper or website. The administration there is incredibly dumb.
As well as it should be. These false claims should result in prosecution.
Here is the text of one of the statutes invoked by the plaintiff in his Complaint against Amherst College:
42 U.S.C. Section 1981:
(a) Statement of equal rights
All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall
have the same right in every State and Territory to make and
enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the
full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security
of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall
be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses,
and exactions of every kind, and to no other.
(b) “Make and enforce contracts” defined
For purposes of this section, the term “make and enforce
contracts” includes the making, performance, modification, and
termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits,
privileges, terms, and conditions of the contractual relationship.
(c) Protection against impairment
The rights protected by this section are protected against
impairment by nongovernmental discrimination and impairment under
color of State law.
I still feel that the worst outcome of this will be that it will be more difficult for women that are assaulted may have a tougher time in the court system. This is not fair for the wrongly accused man either.
It’s the little things that make Team O so terrible.
The article newer than this one above shows how Amherst College wrongfully defamed a student by allowing in a lot of hearsay and lies. If an adult can lie to a teacher about a so called sexual assault then a child of 3 can wrongfully identify a perp who beat him when he talks to a teacher.
We need an article which discusses the various claims brought by the Amherst person defamed by the school. I refer to the various claims in his Complaint in Federal Court. Will his Section 1981 claim get thrown out? What is that other federal claim about? We need to examine the statute in question.
Amherst has gone to hell in a hand basket. Don’t let your kid go there. It is a pirate territory. Fly over and flush. The administration there must be wearing turbans.
@JT
“If true, the allegations again show the need for representation and due process rights in these proceedings despite the effort of the Obama Administration to strip away such basic protections.”
There should be representation and due process rights in these proceedings regardless of whether Doe’s allegation’s are true.
LOL!
I’d recommend that Amherst change the school’s mascot. They should ditch “Lord Jeff” and replace him with a kangaroo.
This is liberalism in all its “glory.” I hope I’m still alive 20-30 years from now when the truth is written about the most incompetent and lawless Presidency in my lifetime.
Regarding the Education Industry. There has been an undeclared war on boys and men for several decades. And, as we see, habeas corpus has been suspended.
I found the Complaint filed in Federal Court by the expelled male student. He is suing under a variety of state claims, an odd federal claim which needs to be discussed here, and also for breach of contract under 42 U.S.C. Section 1981.
I had filed a previous comment which the blog here censored because I quoted a word from the article written by JT. This censorship is getting old.
Print my previous comment!
My comment is awaiting moderation because I employed a word used in the article itself. Everything in moderation. Post this comment. How about Pig Latin? ukFay.
It seems that there are two travesties here. Firstly, the student should have representation in a situation that determines guilt or innocence. Secondly, what aren’t the so called leaders of the college who interpreted this girl giving a guy a hummer two years earlier, given the email, rule against the guy. It’s hard to say which travesty is greater. Obama may be blamed for some hard lining but not the stupidity of the college.