The U.S. Department of Education is seeking to help block the release of records about how the University of Montana punished a student accused of sexual assault, citing student privacy laws -- at a time when the Obama administration is pressuring colleges to become more transparent about the issue.
The federal government last week weighed in on a high-profile Montana Supreme Court case that would decide if the author and journalist Jon Krakauer should have access to records concerning a 2012 rape case against a University of Montana quarterback. On Friday, the department signaled its plan to file an amicus brief in the case to "clarify that disciplinary records constitute protected 'education records' under" the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
While the department stated that its brief was not in support of either party, Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said by intervening in such a way, the administration is taking a clear side in the case, advocating that government officials can invoke student privacy concerns to cover up how they fail to respond to cases of sexual assault.
"They're intervening on the side of the university," LoMonte said. "And the result of that position being upheld will be the denial of Krakauer's case. They can claim they're not taking sides, but their position carries the weight of the federal government, and it's not in favor of Krakauer."
In a letter sent to the department on Monday, LoMonte argues that the administration should not intervene in the case at all, and questions why the agency "believes that it is a valid discretionary use of the prestige and resources of the federal government to obscure the answer to a question of public importance -- whether the State of Montana affords preferential treatment to student athletes in sexual assault cases."
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/16/us-says-records-athlete-accused-assault-should-not-be-released