What Are the Differences Between Title IX and Court Proceedings?

Title IX sex assault cases are handled by an educational institution as an administrative matter, not by a state court as a criminal matter. That means the accused person cannot face criminal punishments such as prison time and fines, but rather academic discipline such as suspension or expulsion. It also means the accused lacks many legal rights which he or she would have in a court of law.

Colleges and universities aren’t concerned about this. They’re concerned about not being sued by alleged victims — or in some cases by the accused. They’re also concerned about money. They don’t want to be fined by the government or even lose federal funding — funding which compels them to observe Title IX’s rules against discrimination of any kind based on sex. As a result, some institutions have bent over backwards to pursue any and all complaints of sexual assault on campus aggressively, often with heedless disregard for their veracity and callous unconcern for long-held American legal principles, including the presumption of innocence.

As Harvard Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen told The Atlantic:

“In renewing their attention to the rights of alleged victims of sexual assault, many (schools) began to disregard the rights of accused students.

It has become commonplace to deny accused students access to the complaint, evidence, the identities of witnesses or the investigative report, and to forbid them from questioning complainants or witnesses.”

Such things make a mockery of every American’s right to due process and protections under the law. You may not even receive your constitutional protection to have a lawyer.

In a criminal case in a courtroom, a defendant has constitutional protections, including the right to an attorney, which a Title IX procedure may not allow. Courtroom defendants also have a right against self-incrimination, the right to confront their accuser, to a speedy trial and a jury trial.

That’s not to say a Title IX defendant should seek a criminal trial, which would occur only by adding a criminal charge, in order to seek fairer treatment. Rather, it’s to say that the Title IX system a defendant must face weighs heavily against the accused.

It means you must confront a Title IX sex assault complaint with the full forces available to you — starting by consulting an experienced and knowledgeable Title IX defense lawyer.

Due process for Title IX defendants

As for what is due process, it’s provided by the Fifth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure that a person’s rights are protected against arbitrary denials of life, liberty or property. Due process compels courts and governing bodies to provide an appropriate administration of justice.

Such due process rights are especially important in criminal cases for such charges as sexual assault. That’s because a defendant, if convicted, may face severe punishments such as loss of freedom (due to a prison sentence) and loss of assets (due to fines).

Many federal lawsuits filed by students accused of Title IX sex assault have argued that such due process rights were not upheld by universities in their Title IX proceedings. And some universities are losing such lawsuits, or at least have presiding judges rule against them when they file motions to dismiss the lawsuit.

Courts are favoring Title IX defendants

More and more, courts are finding that Title IX proceedings discriminate against defendants, especially accused male students who are often treated as guilty even before an investigation has begun.

Perhaps one day a landmark case of Title IX discrimination will make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where standards could be formally set to protect the legal rights of the accused.

Until then, differences between Title IX investigations and court proceedings are underscoring the problem, which remains.

This may make it necessary for your family to engage a skilled, knowledgeable and experienced Title IX defense lawyer to handle your family member’s case.