Legislators in Utah are considering a bill that would allow students involved in campus sexual assault hearings the right to an attorney.
Both accusers and the accused would be allowed legal representation, if the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan, gets her way.
“It’s not the intent of this legislation to make this look like a law enforcement and criminal justice court proceeding,” Coleman said. “We just want to ensure that the student’s right to have counsel is recognized by the institution.”
The bill would only allow legal representation to those students involved in non-academic disciplinary matters. Students who were accused of plagiarism or cheating would not be allowed an attorney.
Students involved in non-academic disciplinary situations would have to pay for their own lawyer, something that concerns State Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake.
“If you’re going to go down that route, you need to make sure that that route is fair to all students,” he said during a meeting that discussed the bill.
That is a difficulty for schools, as some students — whether they be accuser or accused — might not be able to afford an attorney while other students can. This affects accused students more, not just because they are the ones facing potentially being branded as a rapist, but also because accusers have at least one entire administrative office behind them — whichever office is conducting the investigation.
This is due to the fact that the office conducting the investigation, whether it be the Title IX office or the student affairs office or whatever the school has decided to name it, is being pressured by the federal government to find students responsible for sexual assault.
It would be too much for a school to pay the legal bills of students in these situations, so they will have to figure out how to handle the situation. In the criminal justice system, where these cases should be tried, a lawyer is provided for those who can’t afford one. Perhaps colleges could work with local law firms to create pro bono deals with attorneys to work with their students in the event that one student involved in an accusation can afford an attorney but the other cannot.
Regardless, the bill could be a big win for accused students in Utah, who have had their due process rights eviscerated by the federal government. Utah would be following in the footsteps of states like North Dakota that have passed similar laws.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
