An 'Unprecedented' Direction for Title IX

In an unparalleled decision and a win for those who feel due process has been shunned in. campus investigations of sexual assault, a federal appeals court has ruled that universities must allow students in these cases -- or their representatives -- to directly question their accuser in a live hearing.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s opinion, in a lawsuit against the University of Michigan, has the potential to reshape the notion of due process for campus sexual assault cases, at least for institutions in the four Midwestern states that comprise the Sixth Circuit, experts say.

Also looming is the Trump administration’s imminent release of draft regulations around Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal gender antidiscrimination law barring sexual misconduct on college campuses.

The appeals court decision would seem to match the direction of the U.S. Department of Education, which under new draft rules wants to mandate cross-examination. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos last year rescinded Obama-era guidance on Title IX, declaring it had unfairly slanted proceedings against accused students.