Miltenberg: “He Was Accused of Sexual Assault and Suspended for Two Years. Now His Case Could Help the Wrongly Accused Who Can’t Afford Lawyers,” The Daily Wire

There’s a plethora of unfair policies and procedures enacted by colleges and universities regarding their pseudo-judicial systems set up to find culpability of those accused of sexual assault. But there is also an inherent inequality after the fact, as many — if not most — students who are wrongly accused can’t afford an attorney to sue the school and clear their good name. That may be about to change thanks to attorney Andrew Miltenberg, who has been one of the leading lawyers in the fight for campus due process rights. At Michigan State University — which has already been investigated by the federal government for taking too long to find accused students responsible and harbored Larry Nassar for years — a student referred to in court documents as John Doe was accused of sexual assault. John said he thought the sex was consensual, but at some point during it he noticed the woman “appeared uncomfortable and was shivering.” He says he stopped having sex with her and asked if she was alright. She then left the room. Later, her friend texted John to say the woman claimed John forced himself on her. Four days later, she reported the incident to the school. John was suspended for two years after an investigation that did not provide a chance for John to defend himself in a live hearing. He was unable to cross-examine his accuser or the witnesses against him. A 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling found that rival University of Michigan was wrong to deny an accused student the ability to cross-examine his accuser. That ruling, Miltenberg told the Detroit Free Press, opened the door for a class-action lawsuit, something that has been consistently brought up in due process circles.

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