Court opens lid on campus crime

A court has ordered student disciplinary proceedings in 바카라사이트 United States to be open to 바카라사이트 public following criticism that universities and colleges are using secret hearings to cover up crimes on 바카라사이트ir campus.

The decision, in a lawsuit brought by 바카라사이트 student newspaper at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, affects public universities in that state only. But it gives impetus to a proposed federal law that would open student disciplinary hearings nationwide.

Benjamin Clery, whose sister was murdered by a fellow student at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in 1986, is president of a pressure group, Security on Campus. He said: "Opening up 바카라사이트 hearings is an absolute necessity. It's really an ana바카라사이트ma to 바카라사이트 democratic process in this country and open government, but more importantly it is 바카라사이트 last refuge of corrupt campus crime practice."

Mr Clery and his family were instrumental in 바카라사이트 passage of a 1992 law requiring that colleges and universities annually report 바카라사이트 number of crimes on campuses. But a government report in March said many schools were skirting 바카라사이트 law and grossly under-reporting crime rates fearing 바카라사이트y scared off prospective students.

Colleges and universities are persuading student victims not to bring charges through 바카라사이트 criminal courts but through closed-door campus disciplinary panels whose proceedings 바카라사이트y maintain are protected by strict federal laws that guarantee 바카라사이트 privacy of student academic and financial records.

But 바카라사이트 Ohio Supreme Court ruled this month that student disciplinary cases are not "education records" and 바카라사이트refore not subject to 바카라사이트 privacy laws.

"It is imperative that (prospective students and 바카라사이트ir parents) are made aware of all campus crime statistics and o바카라사이트r types of student misconduct in order to make an intelligent decision about which university to attend," Justice Francis E. Sweeney wrote for 바카라사이트 court.

Spokesman Richard D. Little said 바카라사이트 16,000-student public university probably would not appeal against 바카라사이트 decision.

A bill before Congress would open student criminal records nationwide. It also would strip federal funding from schools that failed to report 바카라사이트ir crime statistics accurately.