My interest in this decision is two-fold. First, no small amount of effort has been expended on these pages to highlight the abuse of rights on college campuses or the culture that facilitates it. Second, I attended the University of Buffalo, which was just dope-slapped by a New York State Appellate Court for its banana-republic-like judgment against a student.
In response to their disciplinary process, the court said,
“…we are compelled to express our dismay at respondent’s cavalier attitude toward petitioner’s due process rights in this case, and we remind respondent — and all other colleges and universities, particularly state-affiliated institutions — of their unwavering obligation to conduct student disciplinary proceedings in a manner that comports with fundamental notions of due process for the accused, that renders determinations consistent with the facts, and that respects the presumption of innocence to which all students are entitled.”
You can read the circumstances in more detail here but to summarize a student was accused of brandishing a weapon (an airsoft gun was found in the vehicle) at some fellow students who were taunting a passenger in his vehicle. After review the university “sanctioned petitioner with 50 hours of community service, two years of disciplinary probation, and exclusion from on-campus housing.”
Whether the charges are legitimate remains unclear but the process leading to the disciplinary action is not in dispute.
In his complaint, Hill (the accused) lays out a litany of due process defects with UB’s hearing process. Hill alleges UB did not notify him of the charges prior to meeting with administrators, refused to provide the full names of witnesses, disallowed cross-examination, and prohibited the active assistance of counsel during his hearing. Additionally, Hill accuses UB of neglecting to transcribe the hearing and preventing him from accessing evidence reviewed by the appellate panel. All of this, he alleged, hindered his ability to present a meaningful defense to the allegations and resulted in an erroneous determination.
SUNY Buffalo appears to have not just railroaded Hill, they declined to keep records of the proceedings.
“We remind respondent — and all other colleges and universities, particularly state-affiliated institutions — of their unwavering obligation to conduct student disciplinary proceedings in a manner that comports with fundamental notions of due process for the accused, that renders determinations consistent with the facts, and that respects the presumption of innocence to which all students are entitled.”
If you are not yet clear on why I’d spend time on this let me remind you that College campuses are the template for how the progressive left would run the country if we let them. Those with short memories need only search back through the tenure of the Obama Administration for evidence to support a growing transition toward that style of governance.
And while Universities are indoctrinating students into being triggered-clueless-snowflake-culture-warriors in defense pretend rights, the bigger problem is how they are programming future generations to abrogate actual rights to “The State.”
The so-called #resistance supports state power over individual rights. Universities are training and recruitment centers.
And if they ever get enough power again at the federal level, say, Congress and the oval office, they won’t waste time fooling around with your health-care. They’ll start doing things that say they mean business and quickly.
The odds are good that this will start another “revolution,” and they want that. They really do. It would give them the pretext to try and use force to disarm the nation. They want that and they don’t care what the cost.
So say thank you to courts and judges who still have the sense (when they have the sense) to understand how and why liberty works.
