Are you facing a Title IX allegation? Are you wondering what to do next? Title IX is a serious allegation with the potential to ruin your personal and professional life. The first thing you need to do right now is to contact a Title IX attorney. Read along to make some sense of your situation. Click here to check their website now.
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What is a Title IX allegation?
Title IX is a law that allows a student to file a complaint against another student, professor, or anybody else against sexual misconduct.
The law covers all schools and colleges in the United States. It is a gender-neutral law, even though most complainants are females. But just like any sexual misconduct law, it has some loopholes that some people misuse for personal reasons.
What are the consequences if the allegations are true?
If you are found guilty under Title IX, it will go into your academic records. Your future education prospects will depend on what the board decides as your punishment.
In most cases, the school board will dismiss you. With a Title IX case history, you will find it hard to continue your education. Even if another school takes you in, your future might still be grim.
The case history can ruin your professional career. If you have any aspirations to join the military or the government services, you can bid goodbye to them!
Similarly, recruiters will run a background check on students. If there is a Title IX case under your name, the chances of getting rejected are very high.
On top of this, the sexual abuser tag will follow you everywhere you go. Your social life will shrink to a few important people like those who either trust you or give you the benefit of the doubt.
Whether you did the violent act or not, you will suffer its consequences for a long time. The law has the potential to ruin a person’s existence.
If a person wrongly accused you of sexual misconduct, either the person is twisted or they did not think it through.
Trapping somebody under Title IX law is one of the worst forms of personal revenge one can have. The list of consequences might make one wonder whether we need this law in our system. Let us find out!
Is Title IX law necessary?
Title IX was a serious topic of discussion in the legal world at the time of its passing during the Education Amendments of 1972. Even now, after almost five decades of its passing, this law continues to puzzle lawyers and give a tough time to innocent students. This is why college students should always take legal assistance from a reputed attorney.
How bad is Title IX misuse?
In universities around New York and New Jersey, it is now common for students to get wrongly accused of Title IX cases.
Like any other law that was intended to bring good to the people but was later misled and misused to take out personal vengeance, Title IX is also now bringing more harm than good.
But taking out this law is not an option as many serious sexual harassment cases would also go unreported and under-represented.
Using Title IX legal provision should be done with caution and care. Since there are many cases of untrue allegations and wrongful accusations, it is important to take sides with an experienced lawyer.
If you are wrongly accused, then you have to proceed with caution. There is a presumption that the accused is guilty even before proven. As a result, once the victim files an allegation, the accused will start facing social ostracization and isolation at the institute.
Why is there an immediate presumption of guilt?
Universities and colleges also take the side of the complainant. There is a reason that is not justified in the eyes of law behind this partiality. Most universities and medical schools get federal funds in millions of dollars every year. These funds are given based on many factors.
Apart from academic quality maintenance and other related activities, keeping a clean record of sexual assault cases is important for being eligible for federal funds.
Keeping this in mind, universities resort to two tactics: one is not registering sexual assault cases, and the other is convicting the accused in registered cases.
Only if the accused is found guilty will the Title IX case be considered successful most of the time. This is why college disciplinary committees and university counsels prefer to take the side of the complainant than the side of justice.
This is a serious disadvantage for most of the wrongly accused students who do not get a fair trial. Their legal battle will be an uphill task right from the beginning. Fighting the case against a whole college board is not an easy task, especially when the odds are stacked up against you.
How can an attorney help you come clean?
Title IX cases are handled at the institute level. So, if the authorities are supporting the complainant, you are going to get sidelined. An experienced attorney can get you out of this cobweb. But you need to act fast and find a lawyer at the earliest.
The attorney will advise you to find any sort of evidence or alibi to prove your innocence. Evidence collection and witness testimonials are crucial to win a Title IX case registered against you.
Consent is one of the trickiest parts to handle in sexual allegation cases. The complainant may accuse you of an act that had mutual consent. In such cases, an attorney who may have dealt with cases with similar scenarios might tell you what your options are.
Final takeaway
Do not take a Title IX allegation lightly. Someone might advise you to face the board by yourself as the investigation is at the school level. But it is best to keep a Title IX lawyer in your corner.
It can save you a lot of time, money, and effort in your future academic endeavors as well as professional life.