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Court boosts rights of students accused of sexual misconduct
Court News |
2018/09/09 12:04
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Students accused of sexual misconduct at public universities have the right to cross-examine accusers at disciplinary hearings, a federal appeals court said Friday in a sweeping decision that will extend to public schools in four states.
The University of Michigan violated the rights of a male student by refusing to allow him or a representative to question witnesses in an alleged incident of sexual misconduct at a "Risky Business"-themed fraternity party, the court said.
A university investigator found insufficient evidence that a student had committed misconduct. But that conclusion was overturned by a campus appeals panel after two closed sessions.
The student, identified in court papers as John Doe, agreed to leave the school in 2016 instead of face expulsion, just 13.5 credits shy of getting a bachelor's degree in business. His attorney said he was made a "scapegoat" by the university to show that it was aggressively responding to complaints.
"If a public university has to choose between competing narratives to resolve a case, the university must give the accused student or his agent an opportunity to cross-examine the accuser and adverse witnesses in the presence of a neutral fact-finder," said Judge Amul Thapar, writing for a three-judge panel at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The court overturned a decision by U.S. District Judge David Lawson. The ruling is binding in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky, the four states covered by the 6th Circuit.
"Providing Doe a hearing with the opportunity for cross-examination would have cost the university very little," Thapar wrote. "As it turns out, the university already provides for a hearing with cross-examination in all misconduct cases other than those involving sexual assault."
University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the decision was being reviewed.
"This is a very huge victory for the constitutional rights of students," Doe's attorney, Deborah Gordon, said. "Sexual-misconduct proceedings have to be a search for the truth. The University of Michigan, by hiding the ball from both sides, has really done a huge disservice to the entire issue of sexual misconduct on campus. The stakes are so high."
It's unclear what will happen next. But Gordon said her client, who had a 3.94 grade-point average, wants his college degree. |
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Kavanaugh's support for surveilling Americans raises concern
Court News |
2018/09/01 23:51
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Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has frequently supported giving the U.S. government wide latitude in the name of national security, including the secret collection of personal data from Americans.
It's a subject Democrats plan to grill Kavanaugh about during his confirmation hearings scheduled to begin next Tuesday. Beyond his writings as an appeals court judge, some senators suspect Kavanaugh was more involved in crafting counterterrorism policies during the George W. Bush administration than he has let on.
Kavanaugh stated in past congressional testimony that he wasn't involved in such provocative matters as warrantless surveillance and the treatment of enemy combatants in the years immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But legal experts say he could shift the court on national security issues, if he is confirmed to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor whose expertise includes national security and counterterrorism, cites opinions he says show Kavanaugh "is a lot less willing (than Kennedy) to look at international law as a relevant source of authority and constraint." He said on matters such as Guantanamo detention, Kavanaugh is "much more deferential to the executive branch in this context than Kennedy would have been."
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, calls Kavanaugh "incredibly well-qualified." The former U.S. trade representative and White House budget director knows Kavanaugh from their time together in the Bush administration. He said Kavanaugh "believes strongly in the Constitution" and the Bill of Rights.
"I think he's in the mainstream with regard to these issues, and frankly, I don't think it's a difference with any meaning between where he is and where the court is currently," Portman said.
Democrats facing an uphill battle in blocking Kavanaugh's nomination have focused less on his judicial counterterrorism record than whether he misled senators about his role in Bush policies while testifying in 2006 confirmation hearings.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy are among Democrats who want to see more records from Kavanaugh's White House days, saying news media accounts after he was seated on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia raised new questions. White House spokesman Raj Shah said Durbin has been doing the misleading by taking Kavanaugh's answers out of context. |
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Austrian court's approval for spy agency raid was illegal
Court News |
2018/08/28 10:34
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Judges in Austria say a lower court's authorization for police to raid the offices of the country's domestic intelligence agency was illegal.
The regional court in Vienna said Tuesday that the search of the BVT spy agency on Feb. 28 wasn't justified because the necessary information could have been obtained if police had simply asked for it. It also ruled that the search of three BVT employees' homes wasn't warranted, though a fourth was.
The raid, which was part of a probe into alleged misconduct by BVT staff, sparked a political storm earlier this year.
Opposition parties accused the government of attempting to purge political enemies. The Vienna court ruling didn't rule on whether evidence seized in the raid should be destroyed. |
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In Veterans Court, former service members fight new battle
Court News |
2018/08/25 10:31
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Sheriff's deputies steered three handcuffed men into Veterans Court one day this summer. The backs of their red jumpsuits read "Allegheny County Jail." One prisoner had doe eyes and long hair, resembling pictures of Christ.
He wore shackles around his ankles.
When he stood before Judge John Zottola, his eyes cast down, the judge cocked his head with a "What are we going to do with you?" expression on his face.
A probation officer said the young man, an Iraq War combat veteran, had absconded -- a word that in court means fled -- while under house arrest. The judge ordered a transfer to a Bath, N.Y., treatment center for veterans who suffer post-traumatic stress and addiction.
Seeing a veteran shackled in his own country is particularly unsettling when you realize jail may be where he is most safe. But most veterans in this court are not incarcerated. They have an out, as long as they check in with the probation officer, keep their records and urine clean and show up for court. The process of getting through three phases of good behavior takes a year.
Allegheny County Veterans Treatment Court is an acknowledgement that veterans deserve special consideration when they land in the criminal justice system. They are diverted into a side stream of the larger channel. If they have post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury on top of their violations, their treatment team can work to untangle these issues.
Judge Zottola, who meets before court with the parties of each day's hearing, describes it as "a problem solving court, with positive rewards and regular sanctions."
His courtroom hums with collaborative spirit. Before he calls the room to order, people mill about, sharing information. The hearings, too, are more casual than typical court proceedings.
"We are a team and we take a team approach to assist you," Judge Zottola says as he opens his sessions. "Please take advantage of that help.
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