Inside Higher Ed quotes Sokolow on campuses outsourcing to judges

Brett Sokolow, president and CEO of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management, said he couldn't comment on which colleges use outside adjudicators, but noted that a few of NCHERM's clients do use judges now. It’s not a system he recommends, though.

“I am hearing about it more,” Sokolow said. “Generally I don’t think judges are a good idea, as it makes the process more legalistic and held to higher standards in terms of later legal challenges.”

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ATIXA Releases Updated Sex/Gender Based Harassment, Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct Model Policy and Procedures

Press release: Updated Sex/Gender Based Harassment, Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct Model Policy and Procedures

http://ow.ly/OCJDY

Chronicle quotes Sokolow on racial disparities in reporting sexual violence

"Race and other minority identities are marginalized, and that marginalization impacts on the willingness of minority women to come forward," he said. (subscription required)

http://ow.ly/OusCS

Counseling Today goes Behind the Book on Van Brunt's Harm to Others: The Assessment and Treatment of Dangerousness

The most effective solution to rampage violence, such as school or workplace shootings, is early, easy and frequent access to care for potential perpetrators, says Brian Van Brunt, author of Harm to Others: The Assessment and Treatment of Dangerousness.

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Sokolow quoted on Kipnis case in Chronicle of Higher Ed

"The way campuses like Northwestern respond to complaints like hers just validates the faculty fears to which Kipnis gives voice," Sokolow wrote.

http://ow.ly/NPn6h

Boston Herald quotes Sokolow on due process rights

“They panicked, with a capital ‘P,’ ” said Brett Sokolow, an attorney who has advised hundreds of colleges on how to deal with sexual misconduct. “In panicking in response to this strong enforcement, campuses overcorrected.”

And that “overcorrection” led to cases where the accused had the deck stacked against them — they were in effect guilty unless they could prove their innocence.

That, in turn, led to cases like this one involving Amherst where the accused predator would file suit against the university for espousing an unfair process.

Now that kind of litigation is forcing schools to rethink and readjust again. The pendulum continues to swing, and observers, including the parents of college kids, are waiting for it to find a comfortable medium.

“I think it’s going in the right direction,” Sokolow said. “I don’t want a process that protects the rights of the accused more than the victim, and I don’t want a process that protects the rights of the accused. You have zero margin for error here.”

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