NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’ Talks Campus Due Process with FIRE’s Joe Cohn

Today’s Morning Edition on NPR features FIRE Legislative and Policy Director Joe Cohn discussing the lack of due process on campus for students accused of sexual assault.

NPR’s Tovia Smith reports on recent court victories where universities have been forced to reinstate students expelled after demonstrably unfair campus proceedings. In one such case, a student was expelled without a hearing; in another, the accused student was allowed to cross-examine his accuser only through a hearing officer, who asked just 9 of the 32 questions the student provided.

Joe told Smith that bills like the Safe Campus Act and the Fair Campus Act would mandate some due process protections, which is a step in the right direction. But, he said, there is still more work to be done in order to achieve justice.

“We are a ways away from reaching the kind of equilibrium that will provide fundamental fairness to everyone involved,” he said.

You can listen to Joe’s remarks, and hear the full story, over at NPR.com.