You’ve seen enough TV to know what an appeal is. Or, more precisely, you’ve seen enough TV to think you know what an appeal is. Most people get it wrong, and that can be the difference between success and failure.
You’re always better off having the LLF National Law Firm on your side any time you’re facing a disciplinary misconduct allegation at St. Cloud State University. If you’re to the point in your case where it’s time to file an appeal, though, you just can’t do without us. Our Student Defense Team was founded to protect your rights, and no one in the country does that better than we do. We can explain the appeals process. We can help you as you put your appeal together. But most importantly, we can make sure SCSU treats you fairly and that you get the best possible resolution to your case.
It is important you act quickly, though. As your hearing outcome letter should have mentioned, you have just five business days to file your appeal. That’s not a lot of time. Don’t wait. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
The SCSU Filing Process
Before we go any further, let’s talk about the steps in the appeals filing process at SCSU. What is it you need to do to make sure your appeal gets in on time and that the appeals officer has no excuse to reject it?
- Your first job, of course, is to write the appeal. Easier said than done, and we’ll talk more about that part of the process below. For now, you should know that there are no forms or guidelines. You simply explain your arguments and provide evidence to support them.
- Once you’ve completed your document, you submit it to the Dean of Students. Again, make sure you do this within the five-day window. Note that the Dean can extend this window if you have a compelling reason for them to do so.
- There are no hearings in appeals cases. The Dean of Students makes their decision based solely on the contents of your written appeal.
- The Dean has five days to issue their decision. They can affirm the original hearing outcome, reduce the terms of your sanction, or order a new hearing.
The Challenges of an Appeal
You can follow every step in the appeals process exactly. You can come up with solid arguments and evidence. And you can still lose your case if you pick the wrong arguments and evidence.
Most students assume that an appeal is another chance to prove their innocence. So they offer the same arguments they did at their hearings, and they support those arguments with the same evidence. Think about it, though: the hearing was to determine your level of responsibility. Why would the disciplinary system do that twice?
In actuality, an appeal is a check on the system, a chance for the university to consider whether or not it treated you the way it was supposed to. The question is whether you had a fair opportunity to make your case. Arguments, then, must suit that question.
- You can argue that your hearing wasn’t fair. Maybe the university didn’t follow its own procedures, or you were denied some fundamental right during the process. If so, you deserve another chance to make your case.
- You can argue that the evidence in the case doesn’t actually support a “responsible” outcome. Decision-makers are supposed to use the legal standard “preponderance of the evidence.” According to this standard, they must believe it is “more likely than not” that you committed the offense before finding you responsible. If there wasn’t a preponderance of evidence, you shouldn’t have been found responsible.
- You can argue that some new piece of evidence warrants consideration. If you didn’t have all the facts at your hearing, you deserve another chance to defend yourself now that you have all the facts.
- You can argue that the sanction you’re facing is disproportionate to your offense. This won’t allow you a new hearing, but it could result in a reduced punishment.
The nature of your evidence needs to change as well. You’re not looking for evidence of your innocence. You’re looking for evidence of a mistake in the process, and that usually comes from the record of the original hearing.
More importantly, though, you actually do need evidence this time around. Because you were “innocent until proven guilty” before, you didn’t have to prove your innocence. The university had the burden of proving your guilt. Now the situation is reversed. The working assumption is that you were treated fairly, and you must provide a preponderance of evidence to overcome that assumption.
You are always at a disadvantage in an appeal. You’ve already been found guilty, and that’s never a good starting position. Keep in mind, though, that all you need is one mistake to justify your appeal. Colleges and universities make lots of mistakes when it comes to disciplinary misconduct. They’re just not set up for it. They’re set up to educate.
As soon as you contact the LLF National Law Firm, we’ll begin going over the record of your hearing, looking for grounds for your appeal. Once we’ve identified grounds, we can help you put together the appeal itself. And from start to finish, we’ll be on hand to make sure you’re treated fairly.
The Office of General Counsel
There is another route to overturning a “responsible” outcome, but it can often be more difficult than filing an appeal, and, again, you don’t want to try it on your own.
Colleges and universities maintain something called an Office of General Counsel. It’s not actually an office on campus; it’s an attorney or a firm of attorneys hired to provide the school with advice on all legal issues. OGC carry enormous weight on campus. Administrators almost always do what OGC suggest.
Because we work so extensively in the field of student defense, the LLF National Law Firm has relationships with OGC around the country, and we don’t mind leveraging these relationships if it will help a client. If we can convince a university president to negotiate, we may be able to get you a reduced sentence, a new hearing, or, at a minimum, an expunged transcript.
The LLF National Law Firm is Always on Your Side
Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from St. Cloud State University, you owe it to yourself to continue the fight. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team is here and ready to help. We’ll guide you through the entire appeals process, make sure your case is airtight, and guarantee the university respects your rights.
As we said in the beginning, though, you cannot afford to wait. There are deadlines for filing your appeal. Get started now. Contact the LLF National Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.