Campus Sexual Assault Adjudication and Resistance to Reform

The forty-year history of rape law reform sheds light on current debates around the adjudication of campus sexual assault. Two strands of rape law reform are important. The first, a progressive reform movement, abolished the unique procedural hurdles in rape prosecutions. Tha…

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Title IX: An Imperfect but Vital Tool To Stop Bullying of LGBT Students

LGBT students are bullied at dramatically higher rates than other students. School bullying generally, and the targeting of LGBT students in particular, has recently garnered national attention as a serious problem that needs to be solved. Just as society is increasingly re…

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In Their Hands: Restoring Institutional Liability for Sexual Harassment in Education

The treatment of sexual harassment victims by their schools, and of schools by courts, under the institutional liability standard of deliberate indifference for damages in private suits is inconsistent with Title IX’s guarantee of equal educational outcomes on the basis of sex.…

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Gender Violence Costs: Schools’ Financial Obligations Under Title IX

The last two years have witnessed a surge in attention to the issue of sexual assault in higher education. Campus rape has become the subject of new legislation, inspired a White House task force, and dominated news headlines. Yet largely neglected in this growing national conver…

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A Better Balance: Providing Survivors of Sexual Violence with “Effective Protection” Against Sex Discrimination Through Title IX Complaints

Although gender-based violence has long been recognized as a form of sex discrimination prohibited under Title IX, many survivors receive little to no support from their college or university after experiencing violence. In response, an increasing number have sought redress by …

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Transformation Requires Transparency: Critical Policy Reforms To Advance Campus Sexual Violence Response

This Feature discusses the lack of transparency in campus adjudication of gender violence reports. It examines the harms caused by this procedural opacity to both accusing and accused students alike, including pervasive mistrust in the system and decreased reporting rates. The pi…

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Complicated Process

Introduction I come to this important Title IX Conversation from a unique perspective. This is not because I was a federal judge for seventeen years. Rather it is because before my judgeship, I was a feminist litigator and a criminal defense lawyer. And from this vantage point, my concern…

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For the Title IX Civil Rights Movement: Congratulations and Cautions

On September 25, 2015, the Yale Law Journal held a “Conversation on Title IX” that confirmed the existence of a new civil rights movement in our nation and our schools. The movement’s leaders are smart, courageous survivors of gender-based violence—virtually all of whom are current un…