Title IX law is in constant flux, with new rules and legal challenges continuing to shape how schools, colleges, and other institutions handle sex-based misconduct and discrimination.  Our firm closely monitors these developments and is committed to providing the most current information available. Click here to learn about the current state of Title IX and how we can help if you are facing accusations or other Title IX issues. 

A student’s rights at a university disciplinary hearing will depend on the particular school involved. Schools have specific policies in terms of how cases would be addressed. It will also vary based on the nature of the offense. At a given school, it may have a certain process for an academic misconduct charge. It may have a certain process for a general disciplinary issue. It may have another process altogether yet for say Title IX sexual misconduct. Now a Title IX sexual misconduct is further complicated by the fact that schools are bound by federal law. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that’s intended in part to prevent and address campus sexual misconduct, so the school has to meet those requirements if it receives federal educational funding.

That being said, the school policy will articulate the rights. It may be the right to call witnesses to present evidence on a person’s behalf, to confront an accuser, to be more theoretical in nature. Students at a public university, for example, have due process rights under the constitution. Students at both a public and private university would have contractual rights. When they become a student and the school accepts them as a student, there’s a contract between the parties, so there’s multiple rights, multiple considerations involved. An experienced attorney advisor can help a student through the process, both to navigate and to understand their rights and to maximize the prospect of success.

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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 […]