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
If all colleges and universities adopt these Title IX unfair trial practices then the nation will go to hell in the handbasket.
PCS,
You know that measurable education would be as effected by digital/virtual education as it is with inordinately expensive and intractable bio-educators. That effect would be the same or better.
Can you say automated “drones” in combat. Who needs a human anymore. Maybe a few minimum wage babysitters.
The problem is the student. The most important aspect of an effective educational process is the brain, the student and his family. Face it. Public school does not attract many “Einsteins.”
Automation has displaced workers worldwide. The glaring exception is public school.
The left-wing radical, thug teachers unions have kept digital/virtual efficiencies and commensurate tax savings out of the classroom.
There is no need for more than one DVD of American History 101 nationwide.
Tests can be taken on an iPhone.
Subject DVD classroom/familyroom playing times can also be automated like radio stations.
The whole freaking school can be automated.
Oops. That would require RESPONSIBILITY on the part of citizens.
Can’t have that. Like pumping your own gas at the station.
forgotwhoiam – there are automated blackboards connected to the students tablets. Clickers to make sure the student is in class (helps with roll taking), scantrons, etc.
However, some students actually work better with humans than with computers.
So the question becomes: is it an educational factory or are you doing what is best for the student?
What has Amherst done since the emails came out to set aside this action that they took against John Doe?
There was a song sung in New Orleans by a musician who parrotted a song by Randy Newman. “Sam Stone came home to his wife and family… after serving in the conflict overseas.” The New Orleans guy interposed the name John Doe. And he interposed: “after serving in college on his knees.”
I am going to the bar where the guy sings tonight and show him the stories on Amherst and John Doe. We need a song about this. I will report back later.
The college latin phrase is translated to Let them enlighten the lands. Oh we are enlightened by the trial given John Doe.
Amherst must go on the itShay list of schools to avoid. Berkeley being another one. A males student would be a fool to go there. You basically cannot date or have a relationship with a female. You risk being destroyed by some communist system of raping you of your civil rights. Americans should consider sending their kids to colleges overseas. Russia would be better than Amherst.
Beldar – since all public colleges and universities have this same system, it is not a safe place for men to be. Probably the best thing to do would be for men to go on strike against college for a year (take a gap year) and the colleges would lose a ton of money. Then not go back until the system was changed. I think 1 year would do it. Maybe even one semester.
@TomNash
Thank you for reminding us to read the link! It was well worth it.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Earlier today I read the Dec. 6, 2012 column JT referenced and highlighted in the first paragraph. I encourage all to read, or re-read, that 2012 column.
@KenRogers
Uh, er, uh. . .have you ever been to that other place—the one that has flowers, and some old Greek guy. . .
I promise you that the above would comfortably fit right in! Heck, the Tara the White Supremacist cat post would absolutely rule over at Huffpo!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@ Squeeky Fromm, Girl
1, June 23, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Here’s one of the juvenile efforts that inspired me to ask where Penelope/Mick Dumdell attends junior high school. If it were any more strained, it could be marketed as baby food for thought:
“Tara, the alleged hero cat, is being universally praised for driving off a dog who was playfully nipping at a little white boy. Here is a link to a story in case you are unaware:
“http://jonathanturley.org/2015/06/21/brave-cat-named-national-hero-dog-after-childs-rescue/
“But those of us who are more cognizant of the hidden meanings of code talk, understand why this story has so resonated with the white populace and gone viral – – – because it reinforces long held racist stereotypes! Scrappy, the dog, represents black urban youth in all their boisterous, rowdy glory. But Scrappy didn’t know his place. He got uppity, and came over to the smug, comfortable middle-class white folk’s home, with its fine trimmed lawn, to play with their child.
“Now few white people know this, but large numbers of Black Americans are scared to death of cats. I have personally seen three full-grown professional African American women cringe in fear and panic at the mere sight of my little kitty. When he simply meowed in greeting, one of them headed out the door at a full gallop and would not return. He is not a dangerous cat in the least, yet, none of these women would let the cat get between them and the door. Their stark terror was palpable.
“So imagine the impact on Black America when this Tara, this cat, this leopard-like mini-me, comes bounding out of nowhere and jumps on Poor Scrappy! Black Americans got the point, oh believe me, they got the point! Come to a white neighborhood, and you will be attacked! Shades of the McKinney Texas Pool Party Massacre!
“And what happened to Scrappy — he was executed by lethal injection! Yes, the racial overtones of this story are obvious to the meanest intelligence! All this scene needed to be even more overtly racist, was the General Lee car from the Dukes of Hazzard sitting in the driveway, with its obnoxious Confederate Flag!
“Yours very truly,
“Mick “Spin” Dumbdell”
@KenRoger
Oh come on now, you can’t say that you didn’t enjoy Ellie Mangle-Lero’s poignant poem, which captured in such a subtle fashion the confusion and meandering thought patterns of elderly liberals:
Daze Of Our Lives???
Roses are red,
Violets are not.
What was I going to say???
Oh dear, I forgot!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@NickS
Oh, I am sooo glad you liked that site. Penelope is a very, very close friend of mine, and she is absolutely brilliant, and much more reserved and measured than me! I don’t want to give away her real nom de plum, which is French for “a name that is plum wrong”, but I have mentioned her several times. As she says, she is an “attorney with a rye sense of humor.”
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@ Nick Spinelli
1, June 23, 2015 at 8:19 am
“Squeek, OMG!! I have just made a couple comments that are awaiting moderation @ that HILARIOUS parody blog. Penelope has them down perfectly.”
On your recommendation, I checked out several of Penelope’s efforts.
Do you happen to know which state the junior high school she attends is in?
See below. All is not well at panties for plato. See the end of the thread. Seems the natives are turning on each other.
http://flowersforsocrates.com/2015/06/19/picture-of-the-day-for-june-19-2015-regarding-governor-nikki-haley-south-carolina-and-the-confederate-flag-video/#comments
Squeek, OMG!! I have just made a couple comments that are awaiting moderation @ that HILARIOUS parody blog. Penelope has them down perfectly.
forgotwhoiam
So, to sum up, in fear of making a mistake, don’t do anything. Yup.
@NickS
Thank you!!! I am glad you liked it! BTW, what did you think about that weird little thingie on the Cat Thread, that was a link to:
https://pansiesforplato.wordpress.com/2015/06/22/tara-the-hero-cat-as-a-symbol-of-white-supremacy/
:whistle:
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
LOL! Squeek, You pushed a lotta buttons w/ that little ditty.
My goodness, I wonder if I can do an Irish Poem about a phony rape and a complete lack of due process??? It would be kind of tasteless, and lowbrow. . . but now that I have had the thought. . .Sooo, let me put on my professional poet hat and give it a go! Disassociate —disassociate. . . oh my, I am going to have to take a hot shower later. . .Let’s see. Amherst is in Massachusetts, which is the same state as Salem, and the Witch trials, and Teddy Kennedy. . . and the Kennedy compound is out on Cape Cod. . .can I squeeze all that into one little Irish Poem along with a few puns and word plays??? OK, here I go. . .
Mass. Hysteria???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm
There once was a college in Mass.
Ironically lacking in class!
Rape is fine on Cape Cod,
But elsewhere, My God!
You get burned at the stake for a pass!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Note. Yes, yes, I know they hung the witches instead of burning them at the stake, but “well hung at the stake” seemed stilted.
We should address, among many things here, the issue of federal jurisdiction in John Doe’s federal lawsuit. One of his Counts is under 42 U.S.C. Section 1981.
A question I have is whether the private college can be sued also under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. Is there “state action” here and were the inmates at the college (so called administrative tools) acting under color of law or color of state law. It is a private college. But with all the imposition of federal pressure and other statutes does this fall under another federal civil rights statute.
The state law claims or Counts articulated in the Complaint all seem viable.
The Count under that other federal statute is a new odd duck to me. I am going to go research that.