Sexual Assault Cases: Didn't we all know this was coming?

A Tennessee state-court judge has ruled that the University of Tennessee violated the due-process rights of a student accused of sexual assault.  The university required that the student prove that he had consent from his partner.  When, of course, he had no way of meeting this burden of proof, he was expelled.  Her Honor rightly observed that shifting the burden of proof put the accused in the position of having to make some sort of recording of the consent before proceeding.  Not only was this an impossible and unfair burden for him to meet.  Additionally, the requirement violated the university's own rule, which states that consent can be manifested by unmistakable conduct on the partner's part.
http://chronicle.com/article/Judge-Faults-University-for/232265/?cid=at

Couldn't we all see this ruling coming down the road?  It is the inevitable result of an untenable set of circumstances that has higher education tying itself up in legal knots.

This mess began with President Obama's call a year ago to obliterate sexual assault on college campuses... a laudable idea on its face.  Who could be against it?  The challenge was taken up by the US Department of Education with a passion.  DOE placed the burden on colleges and universities to get the job done.

In response, many a new job --- usually called Title IX coordinator --- was created across the country.  Policies were created or revised.  Panels of adjudicators and phalanxes of investigators were trained.  And the blunders began.

Mistake number one was thinking that colleges and universities are qualified to replace police departments and courts.

Mistake number two was replacing guilty beyond a reasonable doubt with the "more likely than not" standard that prevails in most college adjudications... a perfectly fine standard when the issue is "was the student intoxicated," but hardly appropriate when sexual assault (a crime... often a felony) is at issue.

Mistake number three was in calling the complainant "the victim," a term that carries with it the presumption of guilt on the part of the accused.

Mistake number four was in erring on the side of playing it safe.  If the accused can't acquit himself, expel him, lest he do what he supposedly did yet again... thus compounding the institution's potential liability.

These fundamental mistakes are being repeated time and time again.

Given this litany of errors, we can anticipate more decisions from the country's courts along the lines of this one out of Tennessee.