Equal Protection On College Campuses Essay

The majority of the criminal acts committed on the college campus are susceptible to off-site judicial intervention, except sexual assault. Only on college campuses are sexual assaults considered a violation of a code of conduct, not a crime. Sanctions imposed for violation of the code range from warning, community service, or expulsion. The latter is rarely imposed creating an environment that breads repeat offenders.

Judicial jurisdiction of sexual assault cases on college campuses reside with the institution’s review board. Under the jurisdiction of an institution, the victim of sexual assault is not provided due process or equal protection of the laws because of the subjective interest of those on the college judicial board. The student-faculty review board is comprised of a police officer, attorney, and chairperson, which are all

“When the law lays an unequal hand on those who have committed intrinsically the same quality of offense and sterilizes one and not the other, it has made as invidious a discrimination as if it had selected a particular race or nationality for oppressive treatment.”1 Likewise, The equal protection clause signifies that the law of the state “must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstance.”2 In any other institution besides a college campus, rape is classified as a crime not a code violation. Its offenders are prosecuted in a court of law in accordance with state law. The maximum judgment imposed on a sex offender in college is expulsion from the institution. The offender is then free to perpetrate offenses on other campuses without fear of