Is a Higher Standard Needed for Campus Sexual Assault Cases? - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the previous years, there has been notable scrutiny directed at the higher education department relating to how student conduct themselves mainly concerning the sexual assault cases. Most people feel that institutions of higher learning should adapt to criminal justice proceedings. Nonetheless, the role of the university conduct process is to check whether the rules or the conduct code of the campus has been broken. In instances where the conduct has been violated the institution determines the outcome of the violator. In the previous years, at the hearings, numerous proof standards were used to measure the level of guilt and if an individual was responsible for committing an offense (Triplett et al. 488). The US government demand the campus panel to make rulings from the preponderance of the evidence. The use of this method as a criterion of judgment offers a standard of proof which is less compared to that which is used in criminal cases in court. Individuals argue that using this way is not fair to the individual accused of sexual assault. However, other people view the policy to be appropriate for campuses (Chmielewski 143). This work explains the need for a higher standard for colleges when it comes to sexual assault cases.

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A report done by the Department of Justice stated that by the year 2002 close to over eighty percent of colleges had started implementing preponderance of evidence as a way of making its ruling for sexual assault cases. The adaptation of that policy explains that a student, after all, evidence has been presented to the panel, should be found to be over 50% guilty of having performed a sexual assault act for him or her to be punished for the actions done (Weizel 1613). The difference to court hearings and the preponderance of evidence is that the preponderance of evidence ensures that the student is found probably guilty of an offense and not proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. A decision arrived at by probability showcases that the institution could not adequately ensure the student who is the culprit is entirely guilty of the offense. Implementation of a higher standard provides the guilty party is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt or innocent in cases where the use of the preponderance of evidence might be biased (Chmielewski 143). Besides, the students who might be innocent are likely to face a higher risk of being found guilty for committing a sexual assault offense in campuses where the preponderance of evidence is used.

Since most colleges or tertiary institutions lack the powers or jurisdiction to convict or incarcerate the students found guilty of sexual assault they view use preponderance of evidence to make rulings as justified. They perceive that the less proof available as a justification for adopting the preponderance of evidence criteria of judgment. The implications are that judgments made falsely on the sexual assault charges lack the consequential capacity to the person accused. However, to the innocent student, he or she is falsely accused and is found guilty at the Title IX hearing (Triplett et al. 505). The student is expelled from the institution and publicly displayed as an individual who takes pride in sexual assault. That will tarnish the name of the person and diminish the chances of the student ever getting a chance to go to another college. Also, the wrongful conviction will limit the opportunities of the person if he or she ever wanted to vie for a political office. Hence, to minimize such cases the government should implement a higher standard for colleges' assault cases. By applying this, most innocent students would not hate their future because of offenses they did not commit; instead, they will embrace the justice upheld when their cases were severely handled.

Thirdly, according to legal experts, the presence of appropriate evidence diminishes the level of inaccurate results in all cases. The use of the preponderance of proof decreases the effectiveness of a convincing sexual assault case. A student who is falsely convicted of a sexual assault offense ends up having a social fall out and loses most of his friends. In the case of an individual who is responsible for a sexual assault act becomes proven innocent based on a preponderance of evidence ruling, it bears a dangerous moment for the person who was sexually assaulted. The survivor will suffer mental breakdowns every moment he or she sees the perpetrator (Bohmer & Parrot). Also, the person who attacked the survivor poses as a physical threat since he or she might harm the survivor once again physically or verbally because of the freedom presented to him or her. Also, a point to note is those sex offenders are always likely to repeat a similar offense. Therefore, the perpetrator becomes a threat to the other students since there is still a possibility of the person reciting the same sexual assault offense. Thus, an improvement in the standards of analyzing sexual assault cases ensures that instances, where guilty students go unpunished, are minimized. As a result, the victims do not have to suffer any form of physical or psychological torment.

Furthermore, campus students who are sexually assaulted or even raped mostly don't speak up. This results in most of the offenders remaining free to commit these sexual assault offenses to other vulnerable students repeatedly. The use of the preponderance of evidence to make a judgment in these cases or address the sexual assault cases focuses on mainly if the man might be wrongly accused of the offense rather than focusing on the fact that there are more unreported cases of sexual assault. According to Loschiavo et.al, a remedy to cases of sexual assault cases being reported is if the institution offers a reliable way of ensuring that guilty pay for their crimes through a well and highly devolved system of ruling. That will assure the students that the institution cares about their well-being. If a student feels that a sexual assault case will be highly treated, he or she will report such incidents to the relevant school authorities.

Sexual assault cases go against the criminal laws set and also go against the Title IX guidelines when a student is sexually assaulted. Title IX facilitates the capabilities of equal rights and privileges for all students within the United States. Schools cannot enforce criminal laws but have the jurisdiction to ensure they enhance the Title IX guidelines. Since sexual assault lacks physical evidence, mostly the institution ends up hearing these cases based on word on word evidence (Triplett et al. 500). This method requires the defendant and the victim to be clear and convincing when telling their testimony. A desire to have a higher evidence base is needed since mostly women or ladies tend to lie during alleged cases of sexual assault. The use of higher evidence-based instigations in sexual assault cases will ensure that the victims of sexual assault cases will get the justice they deserve.

Sexual violence has become a significant concern in most colleges and university in the country undisputedly. With the increased no of cases relating to sexual assault with low proof quality, it is becoming essential for campuses to have a Higher Standard Needed for Campus Sexual Assault Cases. This will focus on ensuring that the schools punishes those found guilty after following a well-established and evidence-based process. The effectiveness of this process will be a minimized cases of innocent students being convicted, increased number of reporting for sexual assault cases since the most student will know that the school is focused on ensuring that their concerns are taken profoundly serious. Also, sexual assault cases will not be repeated since the culprits will face the book. Improvement will also ensure that the campuses focus on those defendants who did not commit the crime and were likely to be convicted wrongly. Although this process will be costly and time-consuming, it will ensure that the students who have been sexually assaulted get their justice, innocent students are not wrongly convicted, and finally, a repeat of the sexual assault cases by the same person is less likely to occur. Therefore, I would highly recommend that a higher standard system is much needed for campus sexual assault cases. It will allow efficiency and offer justice to the students.

Work Cited

Bohmer, C., & Parrot, A. (1993). Sexual assault on campus: The problem and the solution.Lexington Books.

Chmielewski, Amy. "Defending the preponderance of the evidence standard in collegeadjudications of sexual assault." BYU Educ. & LJ (2013): 143.

Dziech, Billie Wright, and Michael W. Hawkins. Sexual Harassment and Higher Education:Reflections and New Perspectives. Routledge, 2012.

Loschiavo, Chris, and J. Waller. "The preponderance of evidence standard: Use in highereducation campus conduct processes." theasca.org

Triplett, Matthew R. "Sexual assault on college campuses: Seeking the appropriate balancebetween due process and victim protection." Duke Law Journal (2012): 487-527.

Weizel, Lavinia M. "The process that is due: Preponderance of the evidence as the standardof proof for university adjudications of student-on-student sexual assault complaints."BCL Rev. 53 (2012): 1613.