The original rulings of 17 campus sexual misconduct hearings overseen by former Director of Student Ethics Jason Casares will stand, IU announced today after a review process that began in mid February.
The hearings processes were fair and "without bias or undue influence" for all parties involved, according to a press release from IU.
Parties in all 17 cases, all of which were heard during the 2015-2016 school year, have been informed of the review results, according to the release. The cases are now final and “no further action” will be taken by IU.
The review originally started with 18 cases, but during the review, a single case had a successful appeal and will be re-heard and therefore was not part of the review, IU spokesperson Mark Land said.
Casares was put on administrative leave in early February after a complaint from a former colleague alleging that he sexually assaulted her.
[Read our initial coverage of the allegation of sexual assault against Jason Casares]
The University review, opened in early February, was conducted by IU law professor Julia Lamber. According to the release, Lamber is a “recognized authority” on Title IX issues.
Lamber found Casares always sought the opinions of other panelists, and he did not make them feel “pressured into taking a particular position,” followed a “consistent process” and “thoroughly trained” other panelists on the hearing process. She also concluded that, in all cases but one, the hearing panel returned a unanimous decision.
"The University can trust the training [of its hearing officers] and the process" Lamber wrote in the review, which was based on 17 cases dating back to August 2015, according to the release.
Lamber’s process was based on reading the entire case files and listening to the full audio recordings of each hearing associated with the 17 cases. Every IU sexual misconduct hearing has a total of three panelists. Lamber interviewed the two people who worked with Casares to determine the “responsibility” of alleged suspects of misconduct, who are referred to as “respondents,” according to the release.
Lamber’s “thorough review” focused on Casares’ conduct in the hearings as well as his “interaction with the parties involved in each case” and his fellow panelists.
[Read about an IU freshman who filed a federal complaint against the Office of Student Ethics]
Lamber was IU’s Dean of Women’s Affairs from 1993 to 1998 and the interim director for the Office of Affirmative Action from 1996 to 1998, according to her IU Maurer School of Law biography page. Her scholarly pursuits include research on employment discrimination law. She has studied Title IX. She’s currently researching Political Culture, Equity Talk, and Educational Policymaking,” according to the biography.
IU is currently under two Title IX compliance reviews, which are being conducted through United States Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. An IU freshman has since filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights following a sexual assault hearing that invovled Casares.
Hannah Alani
