{"id":2317253,"date":"2024-08-01T04:21:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T08:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/these-are-your-rights-on-title-ix-campus-due-process-after-the-biden-harris-overhaul-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-01T04:32:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T08:32:02","slug":"these-are-your-rights-on-title-ix-campus-due-process-after-the-biden-harris-overhaul-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/these-are-your-rights-on-title-ix-campus-due-process-after-the-biden-harris-overhaul-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"These are your rights on Title IX: Campus due process after the Biden-Harris overhaul &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthese-are-your-rights-on-title-ix-campus-due-process-after-the-biden-harris-overhaul-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2317253&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article \u2064discusses the controversial changes to Title IX\u200c regulations implemented by the Biden administration, which take\u200d effect on\u200d August 1. \u2064These changes \u2064retract several due process \u200bprotections established under the previous Trump administration and are being criticized for reverting to what some have labeled &#8220;kangaroo courts&#8221; reminiscent of \u2062the \u2062Obama-era. The new rules alter\u200c the handling of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-one-in-six-biden-voters-would-have-changed-their-vote-if-they-had-known-about-scandals-suppressed-by-media\/\" title=\"Poll: One In Six Biden Voters Would Have Changed Their Vote If They Had Known About Scandals Suppressed By Media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/saudi-court-jails-womens-rights-activist-posing-challenge-for-biden\/\" title=\"Saudi court jails women\u2019s rights activist, posing challenge for Biden\">sexual assault<\/a> allegations<\/a> on college campuses, shifting\u2062 the \u200bprocess in\u2064 ways \u2063that critics argue undermine the presumption of innocence \u2063for \u2063the \u200baccused and reduce protections for survivors.<\/p>\n<p>Key \u2064points of concern include the elimination of a guaranteed\u2062 live hearing and cross-examination \u200cfor the accused, a return to the &#8220;single \u200binvestigator&#8221; model where a single Title IX officer handles both\u200b investigation and adjudication, and\u2063 a lowered evidentiary standard\u2064 for proving misconduct. Critics, including former \u200cofficials from the Trump administration, \u2062argue that\u200b these changes could lead \u2064to unfair outcomes, subjecting both survivors and the accused to \u2062biased investigations and \u200cdecisions.<\/p>\n<p>The article highlights that while the administration \u2062defends these alterations\u2063 as necessary for protecting alleged victims, opponents assert that fairness and \u2063due process should be prioritized. The implications of the revised rules could lead to increased\u2062 liability for\u200d educational institutions and a less just \u2062environment for students facing Title IX proceedings.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">These are your rights on Title IX: Campus due process after the Biden-Harris overhaul<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1716796\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>As the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Biden<\/a> administration&rsquo;s controversial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/title-ix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Title IX<\/a> rules go into effect Thursday, many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-launches-title-ix-overhaul\/\" title=\"Biden Administration Launches Title IX Overhaul\">due process protections<\/a> afforded under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Trump<\/a> era rules are being retracted and returning to what critics called the &ldquo;kangaroo courts&rdquo; of the Obama years.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden&rsquo;s rules have been blocked by federal judges across the country, pausing their implementation in numerous states and hundreds of schools, with more cases pending. But for far more states and schools, the rewritten rules go into effect Aug. 1, and how schools approach handling sexual assault allegations will be dramatically changed.<\/p>\n<p>While most of the court cases and media coverage about Biden&rsquo;s Title IX rewrite has focused on how it changed the definition of sex to include claimed gender identities &mdash; thereby shuttering private spaces for girls and boys to use restrooms and locker rooms separately, for example &mdash; the new rules also strip away many major due process protections for alleged Title IX violations on college campuses and diminish the presumption of innocence for the accused.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Biden-Harris Title IX rule is a stunning reversal of the due process protections found in the 2020 DeVos rule. Their new regulatory regime does not serve students &mdash; not&nbsp;survivors&nbsp;of sexual assault, and not those accused of sexual misconduct,&rdquo; Bob Eitel, co-founder and president of Defense of Freedom Institute, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;Survivors&nbsp;will be forced to re-live their experiences through repeated court challenges, and the accused will be left with little alternative but to seek redress in court from the Kangaroo-style Title IX campus investigations and disciplinary proceedings encouraged by the rule.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Educational institutions should take measures now&nbsp;to increase their liability insurance coverage, because they&rsquo;re going to need it,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Eitel served in the Trump administration as senior counselor to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos when the original rules governing Title IX were written, with a distinct focus on ensuring the due process protections of accusers and the accused on college campuses. Prior to those rules, Title IX was governed by a hodgepodge of directives, primarily through a <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201104.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>2011 &ldquo;Dear Colleague&rdquo; letter<\/a> which stacked Title IX adjudication heavily in favor of the accusers, without much regard for the accused even in cases where accusations were false.<\/p>\n<p>The &ldquo;Dear Colleague&rdquo; letter created a confusing and unfair framework for both men and women, critics say. When DeVos announced her plans to create rules governing Title IX in 2017, she referenced multiple failures under the Obama-era system, which is largely reinstituted under Biden&rsquo;s overhaul.<\/p>\n<p>For example, at Stony Brook University, a female sexual assault victim <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2015\/02\/25\/college-rape-trials-are-unfair-to-men-an\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a> the incident to her school in 2013 and was told she would have to prosecute the case herself. &ldquo;Without any legal training whatsoever, she had to prepare an opening statement, fix exhibits, and find witnesses,&rdquo; DeVos said in a speech.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2017 case from the University of Southern California, a man&rsquo;s life was <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2017\/08\/02\/student-athletes-torn-apart-by-title-ix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>turned upside down<\/a> by a neighbor claiming that he had sexually assaulted his girlfriend. Despite the consensual nature of what the couple described as &ldquo;playfully roughhousing&rdquo; and the girlfriend repeatedly telling the Title IX office that she had not been abused in any way, administrators overruled her, kicked her boyfriend off the football team, and expelled him from school.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When I told the truth,&rdquo; the girlfriend said. &ldquo;I was stereotyped and was told I must be a &lsquo;battered&rsquo; woman, and that made me feel demeaned and absurdly profiled.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming Title IX rules are set to return campuses to the old system, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2017\/09\/07\/devos-title-ix-example-cases-rape\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>rife with examples<\/a> of mistreatment of the accused and accusers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Justice is only possible when hearings are fair for everyone,&rdquo; Will Creeley, legal director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefire.org\/news\/title-ix-regs-mean-students-less-likely-receive-justice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> when the rules were initially finalized. &ldquo;Today&rsquo;s regulations mean one thing: America&rsquo;s college students are less likely to receive justice if they find themselves in a Title IX proceeding.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When administrators investigate the most serious kinds of campus misconduct, colleges should use the time-tested tools that make finding the truth more likely,&rdquo; Creeley added. &ldquo;But the new regulations no longer require them to do so.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Under the Biden framework, a student can be found guilty of sexual assault without ever being able to see the full scope of evidence against them. Instead, the accused student would only have to be provided with a description of what the university considers &ldquo;relevant evidence,&rdquo; and the school can deliver that information orally as opposed to in writing.<\/p>\n<p>During the adjudication process, or grievance procedure, conducted by the Title IX office, an accused student&rsquo;s guaranteed right to a live hearing, with the ability to cross-examine the accuser, has also been taken away.<\/p>\n<p>While the Biden administration argues that the hearing and cross-examination could re-traumatize an alleged victim and dissuade others from coming forward with complaints, the ability to do so is a central component to resolving competing claims fairly, as the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov\/opinions.pdf\/18a0200p-06.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>ruled<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The new Title IX rules also return the investigation process to what is known as the &ldquo;single investigator&rdquo; model, which allows only one Title IX officer to both investigate and decide the outcome of the case &mdash; or, critics say, act as judge and jury. Under the Trump-era rules, at least three people &mdash; a coordinator who receives reports of misconduct, an investigator, and a decision-maker &mdash; were required for each investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration defended returning to the single-investigator model by noting that &ldquo;requiring separate staff members to handle investigation and adjudication is burdensome for some recipients.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Opponents of the due process change say concerns about fairness should outweigh concerns about administrative resources.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Considering how vital a neutral and fair final decision-maker is to the fairness of the process, the accuracy of the fact-finding, and the integrity and robustness of the final decision, any additional administrative inconvenience and cost are more than justified (and are likely to save money and headaches down the road),&rdquo; Perkins Coie attorneys T. Markus Funk and Jean-Jacques Cabou <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/opinion\/views\/2024\/05\/08\/title-ix-regs-beware-weakening-due-process-opinion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>pointed out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The evidentiary standard for misconduct has also been lowered by the Biden administration, making it much easier for the accused to be found guilty of wrongdoing. Under the Trump rules, a standard known as &ldquo;clear and convincing&rdquo; was used, meaning the evidence would have to be strong enough to remove any serious doubts about the legitimacy of the allegations. Under the Biden administration&rsquo;s &ldquo;preponderance of the evidence&rdquo; standard, the evidence must present as more likely than not that the allegation occurred &mdash; sometimes compared to an above 50% chance. The only way a school can now use the clear and convincing standard in a Title IX investigation is if they use it in most other comparable proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the 2020 rules requiring the same high burden of proof for everyone, the Biden rules actually require a greater burden of proof when the accused is an employee than when the accused is a student, making it harder for faculty members to be found guilty of wrongdoing, but easier for students.<\/p>\n<p>As Eitel alluded to, litigation is likely to come from the diminished due process standards under the Biden framework. Some lawsuits have already mentioned the due process issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Only days after the Biden administration finalized the ruling, a number of plaintiffs, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, filed a challenge arguing, &ldquo;The elimination of a parties&rsquo; right to a live hearing with cross-examination, even when credibility is a key issue, is arbitrary and capricious. The challenged rule states that college students accused of misconduct &mdash; charges that could ruin their academic and professional careers if they are found guilty &mdash; no longer have a right to be accompanied by counsel at all proceedings.&nbsp;&hellip; The Department has not reasonably considered these concerns.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration did not &ldquo;adequately consider the significant due-process concerns of a single-investigator model, let alone how its interests militate the grave dangers of allowing a single person [to] investigate, prosecute, and convict,&rdquo; the lawsuit stated.<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1716796\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1716796\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are your rights regarding Title IX: Campus due process following the Biden-Harris changes. As the Biden administration&#8217;s contentious Title IX regulations take effect on Thursday, numerous due process protections established during the Trump administration are being rolled back, reverting to what critics have labeled &#8220;kangaroo courts&#8221; reminiscent of the Obama era. Federal judges nationwide have blocked President Joe Biden&#8217;s rules, delaying their implementation in several states and hundreds of schools, with more legal challenges pending. However, for many other states and institutions, the revised regulations will be enacted on August 1, significantly altering how schools address sexual assault claims.<\/p>\n<p>While much of the legal discourse and media attention surrounding Biden\u2019s Title IX revisions has centered on redefining sex to encompass claimed gender identities\u2014thereby eliminating separate facilities for boys and girls\u2014the new rules also remove critical due process safeguards for those accused of Title IX violations on college campuses and weaken the presumption of innocence. Bob Eitel, co-founder and president of Defense of Freedom Institute, expressed concern to the Washington Examiner that \u201cthe Biden-Harris Title IX rule is a dramatic reversal from the due process protections established in 2020 under DeVos.\u201d He added that survivors may face repeated court challenges while those accused will struggle to seek justice against biased campus investigations encouraged by these new regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Eitel noted that educational institutions should enhance their liability insurance coverage in anticipation of potential legal issues arising from these changes. He previously served as a senior advisor during Trump&#8217;s tenure when original Title IX rules were crafted with an emphasis on protecting both accusers&#8217; and accused individuals&#8217; rights.<\/p>\n<p>Before these reforms were implemented under Trump, Title IX was governed by a confusing array of directives primarily stemming from a 2011 &#8220;Dear Colleague&#8221; letter that heavily favored accusers without adequately considering false allegations against defendants. Critics argue this framework was unjust for both genders.<\/p>\n<p>When DeVos announced her intention to establish clear guidelines for Title IX in 2017, she highlighted failures within Obama&#8217;s system\u2014many aspects of which are now being reinstated under Biden\u2019s overhaul. For instance, at Stony Brook University in 2013, a female victim was told she would need to pursue her case independently without any legal support or training.<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming changes are expected to revert campuses back to an environment where both accusers and accused individuals may face unfair treatment. Will Creeley from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression stated that \u201cjustice is only achievable when hearings are equitable,\u201d emphasizing concerns about students receiving fair treatment during such proceedings under current regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Under Biden&#8217;s framework, students can be deemed guilty without access to comprehensive evidence against them; they only receive descriptions deemed relevant by universities verbally rather than in writing. The right to live hearings where cross-examination could occur has also been eliminated\u2014a move justified by concerns over re-traumatizing alleged victims but criticized as essential for fairly resolving conflicting claims.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, investigations will revert back to a &#8220;single investigator&#8221; model allowing one officer not only to investigate but also decide outcomes\u2014an approach criticized as lacking fairness compared with previous requirements involving multiple personnel overseeing each case.<\/p>\n<p>The evidentiary standard has been lowered as well; previously requiring &#8220;clear and convincing&#8221; evidence under Trump\u2019s rules now shifts towards merely needing evidence suggesting it is more likely than not (over 50% chance) that misconduct occurred\u2014a change making it easier for accusations against students while imposing stricter standards when faculty members are involved.<\/p>\n<p>Litigation related to diminished due process standards appears imminent; some lawsuits have already cited these issues shortly after finalizing new rulings\u2014including challenges asserting arbitrary removal of live hearing rights even when credibility matters significantly at stake\u2014and questioning whether adequate consideration was given regarding single-investigator models\u2019 implications on fairness within proceedings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2317254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/biden-harris-title-ix-2024-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[34137,36843,36844,35136,33591],"class_list":["post-2317253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-biden-harris-administration","tag-campus-rights","tag-due-process","tag-education-policy","tag-title-ix"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/biden-harris-title-ix-2024-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2317253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2317254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2317253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2317253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2317253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}