Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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A look inside USC's clo Justic UDt'-S By Cece von Kolnitz Editor Not even Brian Steward's parents t know he became a case number in c USC's judicial system last year. g Steward, a junior, was charged c with smoking mariiuana in his c dorm room after being accused by a c residence hall director. He confessed to the charge, and as a result of his judicial board hearing, he was kicked out of campus housing. Steward's hearing, like all of USC's judicial board hearings, was closed to the" public, despite the fact that the Freedom of Information Act requires groups supported by public funds to hold open meetings. Steward said during his hearing, he didn't feel like he was really being judged by an unbiased board of his peers. "They basically had their minds made up before I walked in that room," he said. Questions about fairness and meetings held behind closed doors are surrounding campus judicial systems across the country. Meanwhile, Congress and news organizations are putting pressure on universities to be more open about their judicial systems. Fairness and fVio nrnnaaa l/i |7i wuorj ^ USC judicial board members say the process here is fair. "Since it's a board of peers, I ^ think we're very fair. I think if they ^ [students who are found guilty] t thought we weren't fair they could at least see our logic [in coming up with sanctions]," Neel Shah, a junior and president of the judicial board, said. r Shah said charged students are not presumed innocent until they are proven guilty nor are they auto- j. matically presumed guilty. ? "It's neither," Shah said. t The board's standard of evidence is not as high as a state or federal ^ court's. Hearsay is admissible. Nicole Moen, a senior and stu- j. dent member of the judicial board, e said the statements of university employees including administrators ^ and residence hall directors are assumed by the board to be true in s order to "uphold the authority of the people like residence hall direcrr . i tors in an ettort to empower tnem j, in their positions. c "What's the point of having an c RHD if their opinion has no r valuer I A student is judged guilty if the sed judicial system >e itvle w >oard finds that it is "reasonably :ertain the student or student [roup is responsible for the offense harged." Students can appeal their ases all the way up to the president >f the university. The highest punishment USC's udicial board can pass down is sus- I >ension. Moen said "We agonize over our anctions. We spend hours coming jp with what we think should be he most educational program. It's iot really a punishment. We try to nake it a learning experience." Is Even though they spend hours p, rn their decisions, judicial board nembers have very little time to eview each case before hearings. Shah said they review the written . naterial involved in the case for lalf an hour to an hour before each rearing. I "The only reason we review it is :o know what questions to ask," Shah said. He said the short time is another eason why the board is able to be o unbiased. "I don't see how we could be that biased. We find out about the case ind shortly thereafter we have the rearing." Moen said one way the board nsures objectivity is to require >oard members to speak up if they enow a student involved in a case. ITre board is so objective, Moen aid, that she's not concerned about vhat public opinion might be if the tj. rearings were open to the public, hough she advocates their closure ^ o protect student privacy. S1 1 m not so much concerned ^ ibout how [the public] views us. I'm 'ery pleased with the unbiased rature of our board," Moen said. tj. But Steward doesn't agree. In his ^ dosing statement at the end of his rearing Steward told the board, p You already had your minds made w ip." He said, "I've always been told ou get rewarded if you admit your nistakes. It's supposed to be easier," p le said. "They didn't make it any p It asier. tc 5VTiv its closed K Room 104 in the back of USC's V] tudent discipline office is not a f ourtroom. ^ But on days when the judicial re oard is in session, witnesses fill the onference room's chairs, "alleged ^ iffenders" make closing statements t o a board of their peers and in rb*> tr nd, that board decides whether Jeel Shah, president of the judicial board, said he fee eers, I think we're very fair. I think if [students] thoi - i . said FERPA Students at the legislation c to deal with University of Georgia didn t think doing when . Wedlock can use their campus responding schools givir newspaper to chal- students to < ents. Un. i..airi?l knnrrl , Res,pond" ? cie aDout c Dennis Gre decisions. Association Affairs, said open becaus - Crystal Paulk, former judiciary ble"tohold ~A/ ing a porti reporter for UGAs student record. Th< newspaper hearings, he ble and illeg; the accused But Wedl le accused is guilty or not. does not in< The student who is charged may dent wantei e accused of theft or drug posses- hearing, acc< on. He may be accused of rape. One Information ring never changes: no one but admitted, lose directly involved in the hear- The probl lg, the members of the board and says, is enfor le office's administrators know that act has tradi e's there or why he's there. inal punishn And as Moen said, "Not even But the sti resident Palms knows beforehand know that tl hat happens." hearing goir Administrators at universities not publicb :ross the country have traditionally meetings, sed the part of the Family Crystal F ducational Rights and Privacy Act Georgia stud lown as the Buckley Amendment reporter for ) defend the closing of judicial UGA's indej Dard hearings. per, said sin The Buckley Amendment pro- hearings wei des for the withholding of federal Georgia's si mds for public institutions which UGA studei jrmit the release ot educational or cases t cords." At USC, "educational dis- "Judicial Wj plinary records" include everything appeals, om residence hall incident reports Paulk said > university police department appeal their ansfers. pies of the 01 USC law professor Eldon Wedlock challenge so I >Lw.< I 1 "' '"^iiitfTfft / ^1 i| Ilk : Robert Walton/Garnet & Black Is (JSC's judicial board hearings are fair. "Since it's a board of ught we weren't fair they could at least see our logic." is "one of those pieces of sions. Congress passes in order "How do you know you're being an outrage. They really treated fairly as a student unless you through what they were can compare your experience to how they passed the laws." other students have been treated T' said Congress was Paulk said, to concerns about . \g out information about A C3?S6 ICM* ClOSVirC outsiders and not to par- Jerry Crotty, associate student discipline director, said even if no laws \g to a U Magazine arti- were involved, he would want USC's :ollege judicial boards, hearings to be closed. :gory, president of the "I argue for the benefits of confiof Student Judicial dentiality," Crotty said. "1 would hearings should not be want it (the judicial process) to be e it would be "impossi- private even if there wasn't a law hearings without includ- addressed in the question." on of an educational Moen said she believes one of the ;refore, to open such main reasons both hearings and said, would be "impossi- records should be closed is to protect il without the consent of- the individual student's privacy. She student." said she thinks allowing public ock said the law itself access to hearings would open a dude hearings. If a stu- charged student's life up to unnecesd to attend a specific sary public scrutiny, arding to the Freedom of "My only problem with that Act, he should be [media attention] is it stigmatizes the charged student as being guilty em with FOIA, Wedlock whether he is or not," Moen said, cement. Violation of the But Crotty said most student who tionally carried no crim- are referred to the the discipline rents. office either accept responsibility or jdent would have to first are found guilty by the board, here was even a specific "We don't pick these names out of ig on. USC's board does a hat," Crotty said. / post notice of their Shah said another possible effect of open hearings might be backlash 'aulk, a University of from students who are allowed to lent and former judiciary attend who may be unhappy about The Red and Black, the outcome of a charged friend's )endent student newspa- case. ce UGA's campus court "You don't know how disruptive re open by the state ot they could get towards you (it the lpreme court in 1993, hearings were open)." Shah said. "A nts have used examples lot of it is for pur own protection." rom the newspaper's Administrators and judicial board itch" columns for their members say the process a charged student goes through is supposed to 1 students who want to be an educational one. cases can use the exam- "I think of my function as much itcomes of other cases to more of an educational encounter me of the court's deci- rather than a judicial encounter,"