May 6, 2014

College Students Deserve Lawyers When Charged With Campus Offenses




[From article]
Here is what Joe Cohn, FIRE's Legislative and Policy Director, starkly told those legislators about what is happening to students there charged with "theft, harassment, assault, drug and weapons possession, stalking and rape." Until this bill is passed, Cohn said, students "will continue to be forced to represent themselves -- alone -- against experienced and professionally trained deans, administrators and university attorneys in proceedings that fail to guarantee core components of the rights of due process ...
"The stakes," he continues, "are very, very high; the result of these hearings dramatically change the course of these students' lives ... Some institutions may allow a lawyer to attend the hearing, but prohibit them from participating in the proceedings. Others ban attorneys altogether. The universities, on the other hand, are free to send as many attorneys as they wish to prosecute the student."

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff042314.php3#.U2cFLN0--yM

Jewish World Review
April 23, 2014 / 23 Nissan, 5774
Powerful force teaching students the very essence of being Americans
By Nat Hentoff

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