American colleges and universities take charges of sexual misconduct seriously, as well they should. No one should have to suffer discrimination, harassment, or assault simply because of their sex. Schools have a particular responsibility to look after their students' welfare.
If only schools were as eager to protect the rights of their accused students. “Guilty until proven innocent” is one of the founding principles of American jurisprudence. Yet under federal Title IX guidelines, schools can and ignore most of the fundamental rights defendants enjoy in an actual court of law.
If you find yourself accused of sexual misconduct, and being investigated by your school under Title IX, don't take the situation lightly. Without the right person in your corner, your university will likely side with your accuser, and if found responsible, they will do everything they can to suspend or expel you, and Title IX gives them plenty of ammunition to do just that. Protect yourself. Find out all you can about how your school deals with such allegations. Then call a qualified Title IX attorney to help.
Title IX: The Basics
For most of recent history, colleges and universities have prosecuted most instances of sexual misconduct under Title IX. This law, passed in 1972, prohibited sexual discrimination and harassment in all federally funded educational programs.
Though well-intentioned, Title IX was flawed from the beginning. As an incentive to get schools to cooperate, it threatened to withhold federal funding from any institution that refused to comply. As a result, universities today don't merely comply; with millions of dollars at stake, they investigate and prosecute absolutely every accusation, no matter how spurious it might seem. They do everything they can, going too far in many cases, to convict their own students.
More problems with the law developed over time. Courts expanded the definitions of “discrimination” and “harassment” so that they came to mean anything from treating students unequally in the classroom to far more violent crimes like stalking and sexual assault. Suddenly schools found themselves investigating crimes like rape. Students and faculty, with little to no training in weighing judicial matters, found themselves deciding cases that give even seasoned judges pause.
To make matters worse, the federal government systematically did away with several key due process rights for defendants, or never considered such fundamental tenets of fairness for inclusion in the first place. At most schools, for example, judicial panels don't have to find a defendant guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” They can find responsible, or "convict" so to speak, if they believe the offense is “more likely than not” to have occurred. Lawyers call this the 51% rule. It means the decision-maker or panelists must only be just over fifty percent sure you committed an offense in order to find you responsible.
The Title IX Process
How does the Title IX process work? The government has outlined a clear set of guidelines.
Once someone has made a formal complaint against you, the school appoints an investigator to investigate the incident. This investigator interviews both parties as well as any relevant witnesses. They also collect any evidence, such as clothing, video, or text messages. Once they've done all this, they submit a full report to the school's administration.
The school then impanels a hearing committee to hear the case. Typically, these committees are made up of three to five students and faculty members who have received some minimal training in the school's judicial procedures. At the hearing, both sides have the right to present evidence, to call witnesses, and to cross-examine the other side's witnesses.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the panel decides whether the defendant is "responsible", which essentially equates to guilty or innocent, and imposes any necessary punishments. These can include anything from a reprimand to mandated counseling, but in practice, the minimum sanction in most cases is suspension at a minimum. More likely, the school will expel you, with a transcript notation about the nature of your offense.
Under Title IX, you do have the right to appeal a verdict against you. However, appeals are only granted for very narrow reasons, including new evidence or the demonstration of clear bias during the Title IX process.
Attorney Joseph D. Lento Can Help
If you've been reading carefully, you may be feeling nervous about your case at this point. You should be. Title IX disciplinary processes - prosecutions by any other name - are complex. The deck is stacked against you before you even begin defending yourself. Nothing less than your academic and professional future is at stake.
Here's the good news. You don't have to go through this experience alone. Under Title IX, you are entitled to appoint an advisor to help you through the entire process. That advisor can be—and should be—a Title IX attorney. Your advisor will be by your side every time you meet with the school or are interviewed. They will help you uncover evidence and interview witnesses. They will represent you in the hearing, questioning witnesses and raising objections on your behalf. If it comes to it, they can negotiate with the school to reach a fair settlement.
Maybe most importantly, a Title IX attorney will keep track of all the ways your school may try to deny you your rights. Should you lose your hearing, you can then file suit in federal court to have your good name restored. The notes your attorney takes become the basis for that suit.
You don't want just any attorney, though. You want a Title IX attorney, someone who knows the law and its history, someone with proven experience dealing with college faculty and administrators.
Attorney Joseph D. Lento built his career defending students just like you from Title IX allegations. You can expect him to be empathetic: he knows what you're going through, and he's on your side. When it comes to dealing with schools, though, he's tough as nails. He won't let them mistreat you, and he'll fight to get you every right you deserve. Joseph D. Lento is more than a defense attorney. He's a Title IX attorney with years of experience taking on colleges and universities across the country and fighting for justice on behalf of his clients and their families.
If you've been accused of sexual misconduct, don't wait to see what the school might do. Take control of your own situation. Contact attorney Joseph D. Lento today. Call the Lento Law Firm at 888-555-3686 or use our automated online form.
Additional Information
You can find out more about how your specific college or university deals with Title IX allegations by clicking on one of the links below.
- Amherst College
- Andrews University
- Appalachian State University
- Arizona State University
- Arizona State University, Skysong
- Auburn University
- Boise State University
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Bowdoin College
- Brandeis University
- Brigham Young University-Provo
- Brigham Young University-Idaho
- Brown University
- California Institute of Technology
- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
- California State University, Fresno
- California State University, Fullerton
- California State University, Los Angeles
- California State University, Long Beach
- California State University, Northridge
- California State University, Sacramento
- Case Western Reserve University
- Chaffey College
- Claremont McKenna College
- Clemson University
- College of William & Mary
- Colorado State University
- Colorado Technical University
- Columbia Southern University
- Columbia University
- CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College
- CUNY Brooklyn College
- CUNY New York City College of Technology
- CUNY Queens College
- Dartmouth College
- DePaul University
- Duke University
- East Carolina University
- Eastern Michigan University
- Excelsior College
- Florida International University
- Florida Atlantic University
- Florida State University
- Fullerton College
- George Mason University
- Georgia Southern University
- Georgia State University
- Georgia Tech University
- Georgetown University
- Grand Valley State University
- Harvard University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Hunter College - CUNY
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- Iowa State University
- Indiana University, Bloomington
- Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
- Johns Hopkins University
- Kansas State University
- Keiser University
- Kennesaw State University
- Kent State University
- Louisiana State University
- Michigan State University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Mississippi State University
- Missouri State University
- New York University
- North Carolina State University
- Northeastern University
- Northern Arizona University
- Northwestern University
- Oakland University
- Ohio University
- Ohio State University
- Oklahoma State University
- Old Dominion University
- Oregon State University
- Palm Beach State College
- Palomar College
- Penn State University
- Pomona College
- Purdue University
- Rice University
- Rowan University
- San Diego State University
- San Francisco State University
- San Jose State University
- Santa Clara University
- Seminole State College of Florida
- Southern Methodist University
- Stanford University
- Stony Brook University
- SUNY Albany
- Swarthmore College
- Temple University
- Texas A&M University
- Texas State University
- Texas Tech University
- Towson University
- Tufts University
- Tulane UniversityTulane University
- Utah Valley University
- University of Akron
- University of Alabama
- University of Arkansas
- University of Arizona
- University of Buffalo
- University of California at Berkeley
- University of California, Davis
- University of California at Irvine
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)
- University of California San Diego (UCSD)
- University of California, Riverside
- University of Central Florida
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Colorado at Denver
- University of Connecticut
- University of Delaware
- University of Denver
- University of Florida
- University of Georgia
- University of Hawaii at Manoa
- University of Houston
- University of Illinois at Chicago
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- University of Iowa
- University of Kansas
- University of Kentucky
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- University of Louisville
- University of Maryland, College Park
- University of Maryland Global Campus
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Massachusetts, Boston
- University of Massachusetts, Lowell
- University of Miami
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities
- University of Mississippi
- University of Nebraska
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- University of New Mexico, Main Campus
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- University of North Georgia
- University of North Texas
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Oklahoma
- University of Oregon
- University of the Pacific
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of San Fransisco
- University of South Carolina
- University of South Florida
- University of Southern California
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- University of Texas at Arlington
- University of Texas at San Antonio
- University of Texas, Austin
- University of Texas, El Paso
- University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley
- University of Utah
- University of Virginia
- University of Washington
- University of Washington
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Utah State University
- Valencia College
- Vanderbilt University
- Vincennes University
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute
- Wake Forest University
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Wayne State University
- Weber State University
- West Chester University
- West Virginia University
- Western Kentucky University
- Western Michigan University
- Williams College
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Yale University
If you face allegations of sexual misconduct at your school, contact the attorney who has the insight and knowledge to help you. Contact the Lento Law Firm today at (888) 535-3686.
