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North Dakota student discipline bill gets first hearing
Submitted by Mastodon on Tue, 2015-01-27 13:06
Article here. Excerpt:
'A North Dakota legislative committee took no action Monday on a bill that would give the state's university students the right to an attorney during disciplinary hearings.
The proposal, Senate Bill 2150, would give students and student organizations the right to an attorney or non-attorney advocate -- hired at the student's or organization's expense -- who could fully participate in the hearing process. The right would not extend to accusations of academic dishonesty.
The Senate Judiciary Committee did not make any recommendation on the bill Monday after a 90-minute hearing, said bill sponsor Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks.
Sherry Warner Seefeld, mother of former UND student Caleb Warner, testified in favor of the bill. Caleb Warner was banned from campus for three years after being accused of sexually assaulting another student in 2010, even though he was never charged with a crime. Police later charged his accuser with making a false report to law enforcement, and sanctions against Warner were eventually lifted.
Warner Seefeld, in prepared remarks, described her son's disciplinary hearing process, stating that his attorney would have been removed from the room if he spoke or participated in the hearing.
"Imagine that," Warner Seefeld said, according to the prepared remarks. "A 23-year-old must defend himself against an accusation which in the criminal justice system is a felony and has mandatory prison time attached, with only 11 days of preparation, in an audio-recorded hearing where anything he said could be used against him in a criminal court.'
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Comments
Committee-style pocket veto?
Granted it's the first hearing but with no recommendation given after it either way, will it even get a second? The article reports a seemingly optimistic reception, but that may imply nothing in particular.
My suspicion is that it'll get killed in committee not via down-vote but by allowing it to expire at the end of session if it is not explicitly supported by ppl who contact the members, since the prevailing winds are vs. giving students redress vs. campus admins in any context. I say we shouldn't let that happen.
ND Senate bill 2150 action info page:
http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/64-2015/bill-actions/ba2150.html
The bill is in the Judiciary Cmte, whose members are listed at:
http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/64-2015/committees/senate/judiciary
Chmn: Mr. David Hogue (R) (also Senate majority leader): dhogue@nd.gov (Minot, dist. 38)
Vice Chmn: Mr. Kelly Armstrong (R): karmstrong@nd.gov (Dickinson, dist. 36)
Members:
Mr. Jonathan Casper (R): jcasper@nd.gov (Fargo, dist. 27)
Mr. John Grabinger (D): jgrabinger@nd.gov (Jamestown, dist. 12)
Mr. Larry Luick (R): lluick@nd.gov (Fairmount, dist. 25)
Ms. Carolyn Nelson (D): cnelson@nd.gov (Fargo, dist. 21)
Folks, it is *critical* that we take this opportunity to let the committee members know that many ppl outside and inside ND are watching this bill. ND can set a very important precedent affecting not just the issue of students being accused of campus code violations around alleged sexual misconduct or assault, but if you read the bill's text, it covers all allegations of misconduct except academic dishonesty (which arguably is the only area that academics are more qualified to stand judgment on than actual judges). This means students won't be arbitrarily railroaded by administration lackeys over any accused offense. They'll finally have an avenue of redress to actual courts of law and an avenue of appeal. Better yet, campus admins will no longer be able to cover up via on-campus procedures actual complaints of criminal actions. Some sunlight will be let in. No more campus fiefdoms where campus admins reign as manor lords deciding who and when at every turn gets "justice", or their version of it. This bill'd do a lot to shut that down, at least in ND. Once it passes the Senate and House, if the governor signs it, it'll be a model for other states (and a big F*** You to the US Dept of Ed'n that under our current president wants men to be presumed guilty at all times).
Contact the committee members and politely inform them of your support of this bill. You need not be a constituent of the senators (but that'd help!), nor a resident of ND. In fact, not even being a US citizen/resident is necessary. If you live outside the US, indeed, your words may have even greater effect: it says "the world is watching!", so go ahead and let them know of your support for it.
It has to clear committee before passing the Senate, then it'll need to clear the House *and* get signed by the governor.
As for contacting the gov. of ND, that's I think a bit premature and may in fact be counter-productive. Getting the bill onto the Senate floor is step 1. At that point asking the ND senators to vote for it and then maybe (maybe) talking it up to the gov. would be valuable, but it's a decision to be made then. It'll depend on what kind of rel'p the gov. and the Senate has, politically speaking.