College Arrest 101 Blog | Effects of a College Suspension

You or your child may be facing a University Disciplinary violation or hearing where suspension is a real likelihood. In fact, many code of conduct violations carry a "possibility" of suspension or expulsion but ultimately this very serious penalty is not imposed. When a suspension is given from the University, it normally ranges from one semester to two years, depending on your school and the seriousness of the violation. I have not personally seen a suspension over two years and assume at that point the college would entertain expulsion. There are some immediate, short term and long term effects of [...]

By |2018-04-11T13:44:54+00:00April 11th, 2018|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
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College Arrest 101 Blog | Speech, Social Media and Discipline

The intersection of free speech, hate speech, social media and college discipline are playing out in campuses across the country and in some courts. College students use social media constantly and almost exclusively to voice their opinions and ideas. Many Universities have faced challenges when these opinions border on hate speech or racism and school officials are turning to the University Disciplinary system. Many University codes bar and punish many types of normally protected speech. Sounds unAmerican? Against the Constitution? What about the First Amendment? This is the challenge. For example, an App called Yik Yak has spurned a number [...]

By |2018-03-28T12:35:28+00:00January 25th, 2016|Legal Discussion, News Article Commentary|0 Comments
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College Arrest 101 Blog | Colleges Spend Summer Break Rewriting Disciplinary Rules

What do college administrators spend their summer doing? They open up their Student Handbooks and Disciplinary Codes and revise their policies based upon the changes and events that have occurred in the preceding school year. This summer's hot topic is Sexual Assault and Consent.  With rape statistics on college campuses on the rise, colleges are under pressure to review their policies and are completely revamping their definitions of consent - even including examples and hypotheticals. You can read about the definition of consent coming to a campus near you here or listen to the NPR story here: New [...]

By |2018-03-28T12:24:19+00:00August 1st, 2014|Legal Discussion, News Article Commentary|0 Comments
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College Arrest 101 Blog | What are the Student Discipline and Arrest Statistics for My College?

Records of specific cases of student discipline at any University are strictly confidential and cannot be discussed by the College or published in the newspaper or in 2014 on the Internet. This is because college student disciplinary records (unlike criminal arrest records) are strictly protected educational records under Federal Law, which I discuss in more detail here. This may be a good thing if you are a College student and you don't want anyone to find out that you were disciplined by your University. But it really is a double edged sword. Not being able to review, check or compare what [...]

By |2018-03-28T13:14:16+00:00May 21st, 2014|Legal Discussion|Comments Off on College Arrest 101 Blog | What are the Student Discipline and Arrest Statistics for My College?
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College Arrest 101 Blog | Yes the Police Can Report Your Arrest to Your College

College students who have been arrested off campus may be under the incorrect impression that they are in the clear - that their school will not find out about the arrest and they can't be disciplined by the University for it. When in fact any police officer, prosecutor or anyone else can report misconduct to your college disciplinary office. And recall most student codes of conduct also apply to student activity which occurs off campus and even during vacation (read all about it here in my earlier blog post on this very dangerous topic). I have had students arrested off [...]

By |2014-08-04T23:51:52+00:00May 12th, 2014|Legal Discussion|Comments Off on College Arrest 101 Blog | Yes the Police Can Report Your Arrest to Your College
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College Arrest 101 Blog | US Supreme Court Has NEVER Heard a Case Involving College Student Discipline

Surprising. I just read in a legal essay discussing the evolution of the due process law in college student disciplinary cases that the US Supreme Court has never heard a case involving College Student Discipline. Lower appeal courts have addressed these issues on a few occasions, but never the highest court. This is surprising because the issues in college student disciplinary cases involve broad Constitutional questions and ideas like "due process." Such import overarching policies and interpretations should be determined universally and by our highest court. Not left to differing opinions by various judges around the country and certainly not [...]

By |2018-03-28T19:44:39+00:00March 27th, 2014|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
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College Arrest 101 Blog | Good News for College Athletes with Criminal Records?

Last week the NFL finished up its 2013 annual draft in a time when there has been no shortage of college football players in the news for behavior off the field including arrests and suspensions.  This issue of college athlete arrests is not exclusive to football players, but every college sport experiences arrests of team members.  Policy varies widely from university to university regarding punishment for these student athletes - some receive almost no discipline while others are thrown off the team. However, this week it seems that things may be looking up for college athletes who face arrest and [...]

By |2018-03-28T19:59:26+00:00May 2nd, 2013|News Article Commentary|0 Comments
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College Arrest 101 Blog | College Students, Drug Dealing and University Discipline

Recently, a huge drug bust went down at the University of Alabama.  It made national news and about 61 college students were arrested in this sting operation.  You can read about it here. Drug operations happen every day and college students get arrested for drug crimes all the time.  But, there is a big difference between an arrest for drug possession and an arrest for drug dealing (i.e. selling, distributing, etc.) especially for a college student.  Drug possession would be when the student is caught smoking a joint or with a small amount of marijuana or cocaine or pills for [...]

By |2018-03-28T20:11:04+00:00April 2nd, 2013|Legal Discussion, News Article Commentary|0 Comments
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College Arrest 101 Blog | How to Prepare for a College Disciplinary Hearing

Whether it be an "informal" meeting with the Dean to "discuss" the incident, or a formal conference or disciplinary hearing before an administrator or a disciplinary panel, a college should student be prepared. Many times students don't know or understand the disciplinary process and think it's "no big deal" or they have been told by another student who has gone though the process "not worry about it." Nothing could be farther from the truth.  You need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The first way to prepare is to read and be familiar with the college [...]

By |2014-08-05T00:23:31+00:00March 4th, 2013|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
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College Arrest 101 Blog | Even Harvard Students Get Suspended

This month Harvard finally resolved all the student disciplinary cases resulting from the infamous exam cheating scandal of the Spring 2012 semester which the university first announced in August 2012 here. Harvard announced that approximately 140 students were suspected of cheating.  Half of this group were ultimately found in violation of the honor code and suspended (which Harvard calls "required to withdraw") for two to four semesters. One quarter of these accused students received disciplinary probation. You can read all the published details of the disciplinary sanctions here. What should other students and parents around the country learn from this [...]

By |2014-08-05T00:24:47+00:00February 27th, 2013|News Article Commentary|0 Comments
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