Students who are cleared of sexual assault often sue colleges and that settlement cash adds up fast.

The Independent Women’s Forum reports.

Overturned Sexual Assault “Convictions” Getting Very Expensive for Colleges and Universities

A recent University of Southern California court decision is the eighth so far this year in favor of a student accused of sexual assault and “convicted” in a campus hearing.

“John Doe” was found guilty of violating USC’s student code of conduct after “Jane” alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by several male students at a party. She said her sex with John Doe was consensual but he was found guilty because he allegedly “encouraged or permitted” the others to slap Jane on her buttocks.

John tried to appeal to several campus entities, claiming he had not received a fair chance to represent his case. He was not permitted to cross examine witnesses. Interestingly, Jane claimed at one point that her memory of the evening was foggy because she had been drinking.

Directives from the U.S. Department of Education set up a system for judging these cases that rely on a “preponderance of evidence” standard rather than reasonable doubt and erode the right to due process of the accused. Because Title IX officers tend to be interested in guilty findings from college tribunals, hearigs are stacked against the accused. John claimed this is what happened to him.

When campus appeals failed, John doe sued. The first verdict went against him but on appeal he won. (You can get a detailed account of the case from the ruling.) These cases have budgetary consequences for universities–and given that the year is young, we can probably expect several more such reversals before the year is up.

If you want a good summary of the situation, I recommend a press release from SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments), an organization that supports evidence-based and constitutionally sound solutions to campus sexual assault.