Power

Gavel Drop: Universities Still Screwing Up Campus Assault Investigations

Universities may be hotbeds for youth activism, but they're also places where administrators can use their power to shut down sexual assault investigations. And in other on-campus news, wearing blackface gets a pass at a North Dakota school, and a Virginia professor goes on leave after comparing Black Lives Matter to the Klan.

The University of Maryland appears to be trying to stick students with administrative costs related to sexual assault investigations under Title IX. Shutterstock

Welcome to Gavel Drop, our roundup of legal news, headlines, and head-shaking moments in the courts.

The University of Maryland appears to be trying to stick students with administrative costs related to sexual assault investigations under Title IX.

A former Brown University student is suing the institution, alleging the school protected a wealthy trustee’s son rather than sufficiently investigating her sexual assault claim against him.

The University of North Dakota won’t punish students who posted blackface photos of themselves on social media.

Meanwhile, a University of Virginia professor who posted on social media that “Black [L]ives [M]atter is the biggest racist organization since the clan [sic]” is taking a leave of absence.

Right Wing Watch has a really thorough look at Wichita, Kansas, and what has and has not changed in the community 25 years after the flood of anti-choice protests during the Summer of Mercy.

Here is an interesting infographic about the intersection of state abortion policy and clinical practice from the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a case filed by immigrants against former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft; they say they were racially profiled and illegally detained after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to pursue a criminal contempt charge against Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, for failing to halt his immigration sweeps.

This is pretty horrifying. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, various social media platforms were funneling information to law enforcement related to anti-police violence protests in places like Ferguson and Baltimore.

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that the same-sex spouse of a birth mother is entitled to the same legal parental presumptions and rights as if she were of the opposite sex.

Georgia State University College of Law Professor Eric J. Segall argues that while Donald Trump’s reproductive and LGBTQ rights policies are terrible, those of his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, may be worse.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving a cross-border shooting that ended with a 15-year-old boy being shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents.

An Oregon public school teacher who claims he was fired for his vocal opposition to Planned Parenthood got his lawsuit kicked out of court.