Key Differences Between the Criminal Justice System and a School’s Title IX Response to Sexual Assault
Criminal Justice System |
Campus Title IX Response to Sexual Assault |
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The purpose is to maintain law and order in society and to punish and/or rehabilitate those who violate the law. |
The purpose is to ensure that sexual assault does not interfere with victims’ ability to enjoy educational opportunities. |
The victim is not a party to the case. Most of the constitutional rights afforded within the criminal justice system are protections for the accused. |
The school has an equal duty to both students. The victim, if they so choose, is a party to the investigation/disciplinary process. Any right given to one party must be given equally to the other(s). |
Proceedings are judicial proceedings that are governed by statutes and rules of evidence and presided over by a judge. |
Processes are merely administrative and are generally not governed by statutes or rules of evidence. |
The outcome of a successful prosecution is a conviction and the defendant’s sentence will be within a statutorily permissible range (see Module 2). |
The outcome of a campus investigation and process in response to a complaint of sexual assault can be a wide range of actions taken by the school focused on the perpetrator’s conduct, including suspension and expulsion of the perpetrator and/or a permanent note on the perpetrator’s transcript; and can include a range of options focused on the victim and making sure the victim can continue on their educational trajectory unimpeded. |