An accused student is not necessarily presumed innocent in a university disciplinary proceeding. It depends on the school. Studies have been done, across the country, where the number of schools that actually don’t have a presumption of innocence is glaring. Often, people come to me, they come to me throughout the process, early on, during the process. They come to me after the fact, also, after they go through the process on their own or with someone not suited to the task. And when I can look back and see what happened or what shouldn’t have happened, one of the arguments that’s generally raised at that later stage is the fact that there’s no presumption of innocence against this accused student and that is such a fundamental right. So for a school not to have that, it puts an accused, potentially, at a tremendous disadvantage from the start. So the answer to that question is it does depend. It depends on the school.

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When the SRO (School Resource Officer) is Involved: Why “Educational Discipline” Just Became “Legal Defense”

In the name of student safety, schools are installing School Resource Officers (SROs) on campus. But SROs’ involvement in campus problems also means that incidents at school can now turn directly into criminal investigations. What parents need to know is this: If your child faces discipline because of an incident […]

Can Schools Punish Students for Social Media Posts? The Mahanoy Standard

A frustrated high school cheerleader walks into a convenience store on a Saturday afternoon. She snaps a photo with a friend, raises her middle finger, and posts a profanity-filled message to Snapchat complaining about school and cheerleading. By Monday, she’s suspended from the cheer squad. Most students would assume that’s […]

State > District > School: How Inconsistent Policies Become a Defense in Student Misconduct

The state is greater than the district, while the district is greater than the school. That probably seems like a weird SAT math problem. However, it describes the legal concept of “preemption,” when a higher authority’s law prevents lower authorities from acting inconsistently with the senior law. And preemption can […]

Zero-Tolerance Discipline Policies Can Undermine Students’ Due Process Rights

Colleges and universities have broad authority to maintain campus safety and enforce student conduct policies. However, students accused of misconduct don’t lose their due process rights simply because allegations are serious. At the higher education level, courts have repeatedly recognized that suspension and expulsion can have life-changing academic and professional consequences. As […]