Miltenberg: “Every 2 Weeks, A Student Accused of Sexual Assault Sues Their School,” Campus Safety Magazine

4.24.19

Over the last eight years, there have been several hundred lawsuits filed against colleges and universities by students accused of sexual assault by another student. Now, experts say a case is filed every two weeks or so. … U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recently proposed new regulations for how colleges handle sexual assault, which included live hearings with cross-examinations. According to the new regulations, the questioning would need to be conducted by advisers or attorneys to prevent a victim from being directly confronted by his or her assailant. … Andrew Miltenberg, an attorney who represents accused students, feels there is a need for courts to step in because “universities, on their own, weren’t going to get [to fair due process] on their own. I still think there’s a lot of confusion out there on what needs to be done,” he said. … Since the “Dear Colleague” letter, there have been 319 federal cases where some type of action took place. Universities have lost 137 decisions, most of which were to dismiss the lawsuit. Universities have won 119 times and the cases have ended with confidential settlements 63 times.

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