The American Mind by Kenin M. Spivak 8/12/2022
Ending Due ProcessThe Biden Administration has proposed a new rule to use Title IX, the federal ban on sex discrimination in federally funded education, to advance its radical transgender and non-binary ideologies, unconstitutionally stifle dissent, and abrogate due process at American schools and universities.
The proposed rule expands the activities subject to discipline under Title IX and, except for members of teachers’ unions, eviscerates due process protections for those accused of violating the new expansive definition of “sexual discrimination,” even if the alleged violation has nothing to do with the university’s mission and occurs outside the United States. Because the enforcement sections of the rule incorporate similar Obama-era rules that have been rejected by hundreds of courts, the Biden administration knows its rule is unconstitutional and unlawful.
Enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX provides that:
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
In its 1979 opinion Cannon v. University of Chicago, the Supreme Court explained that the objective of Title IX is to “avoid the use of Federal resources to support discriminatory practices” and to “provide individual citizens effective protection against those practices.” In 1972, women comprised 43 percent of college students and generally less than a quarter of professional and graduate students.
The Clinton administration issued rules that expanded Title IX to prohibit “conduct of a sexual nature” that creates a hostile environment. In Davis. v. Monroe Country Board of Education (1999), the Supreme Court narrowed the scope to stop student-on-student sexual harassment in schools that receive federal funds only if the schools had “actual knowledge” of harassment that is “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it can be said to deprive the victims of access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.” (emphasis added).
In 2011, the Obama Education Department weaponized Title IX with a “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) that required schools to provide access to facilities such as bathrooms, showers, and dorm rooms based on gender identity, rather than biological sex. It defined sexual harassment broadly as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature; required only that the alleged harassment potentially “interfere with or limit” access, rather than “deprive” the victim of access and recommended that schools act on constructive notice, rather than actual knowledge. Furthermore it greatly reduced due process for those accused of sexual harassment, authorizing a “single-inquisitor” model by which the investigator, prosecutor, and hearing officer could be the same person, and reduced the accused’s rights to a hearing and to confront his accuser. Meanwhile, it also imposed liability on schools for failing to take strong proactive measures.
As a result of the DCL, university Title IX offices greatly expanded. Instead of focusing on providing opportunities for equal access, the purpose of these departments shifted almost entirely to pursuing alleged purported sexual harassment. With few basic due process protections, universities began punishing male students for alleged sexual misbehavior, ranging from violent rape to allegations that there was insufficient consent to consensual sexual relations.
More:
https://americanmind.org/salvo/ending-due-process/
