Posted on 08/10/2015 5:22:16 PM PDT by markomalley
A state court in Tennessee has ruled in favor of a student expelled for sexual assault, saying his school’s procedures improperly assumed he was guilty and forced him to prove his innocence.
The case of Corey Mock and Molly Morris, both students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), has attracted significant attention thanks to a lengthy profile of Morris that was published by Vice last year. Morris claims she was given a drugged drink at a party, and then was later raped by Mock while she was barely conscious and unable to consent. She complained to her school several months later and got Mock expelled. Mock has aggressively protested his innocence, and his father even started a blog dedicated to his son’s case.
Now Tennessee judge Carol McCoy says the school’s reasoning for expelling Mock was fatally flawed, relying on a standard that forced him to prove that he’d obtained consent for sex, rather than forcing his accuser to show he hadn’t.
“The UTC Chancellor improperly shifted the burden of proof and imposed an untenable standard upon Mr. Mock to disprove the accusation that he forcible assaulted Ms. Morris,” McCoy wrote in her ruling. She also faulted the school for initially finding Mock not responsible for assault, but then changing its mind after an appeal from Morris even thought it hadn’t changed any of its factual findings. Ultimately, she characterized the school’s decision as “arbitrary and capricious.”
The decision is second in the past month to vindicate accused students who say their due process rights were violated in campus proceedings. In early July a California judge rebuked the University of California, San Diego for “unfairly” limiting the due process rights of an accused student by denying him the full right to question his accuser. The judge ordered the school to vacate the student’s punishment and let him return to campus.
The Tennessee ruling is especially notable for the implications it has regarding the rising popularity of so-called “affirmative consent” standards. Under such standards, a person is held to have committed sexual assault if they don’t receive explicit consent for each sexual act. This is in contrast to the prevailing criminal law standard, where sexual assault occurs when a person ignores another’s explicit denial of consent. McCoy’s ruling that UTC improperly burdened Mock by expecting him to prove he obtained consent suggests that affirmative consent rules could have a troublesome time in American courts.
Such decisions should add wind the sails of those who argue that rape allegations are best handled in criminal courts rather than the ad-hoc world of campus judiciaries. A law recently introduced to the U.S. House, which is backed by several national organizations of fraternities and sororities, would do just that, requiring schools to defer to police before taking any action of their own against an alleged rapist.
How does Corey get his life back?
I would sue the university.
Well, I finally found something that's good about the 60's...
Ironically - Bill Clinton was not available to comment
"Agenda-driven and mendacious" would be more precise.
I would have “Corey’s Law” introduced in the legislature. Filing false rape claims are punished with the same penalty as rape.
Right on the money!
That conviction would have destroyed Corey’s life.
I would sue the university.
Very fair indeed.
10,000 per day extra if they don’t settle tomorrow.
“The school’s decision as “arbitrary and capricious.”
Your fly’s open.
More like $60,000,000, and re-naming the school UT-CoreyMock.
Two of my friends were raped on college campuses. One by a foreign Islamic who had to flee the country to avoid prosecution. The other had her drink drugged and was raped by a couple of Obama’s sons.
As near as I can tell, your whole operation consists of little more than a solitary man in a messy apartment which may or may not contain a chicken.
And with Darren’s help, we’ll GET that chicken!
I believe the student’s father was the wrestling coach at Indiana University. He was let go or not rehired or whatever you want to call it for being so outspoken on behalf of his son against another university. The thought police do stick together.
Life is easier with lots of money.
Anyone who attended college knows that what passes for process there is a joke. I’d say the hearings in Animal House were a close approximation.
I don’t understand why anyone would show up to one of these star chambers without a lawyer. I know the university slimebags tell you not to have one but the proper answer is “you can meet my lawyer during this farce or you can meet him when I sue you.”
The media and the Occupation Government are desperate to find cases of white men gang-raping women. ANYTHING to keep the countless incidents of Mexicans and Muslims gang-raping women and children out of the news.
And the ‘woman’ who accused him
Kramerica Industries? ; )
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