Former Yale University basketball captain to sue school over expulsion

[alp227]

Source: New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN >> The former captain of the Yale basketball team intends to sue the university over his expulsion for alleged sexual misconduct.

Jack Montague has hired an attorney, Max Stern of Boston-based Todd and Weld, to represent him. Stern issued a statement Monday through a public relations firm, Polaris Public Relations, also of Boston.

The case stems from an incident in October 2014 in which a Yale undergraduate, accused Montague of forcing her to have sex. Montague was expelled on Feb. 10, according to the letter.

Montague, who is from Brentwood, Tennessee, was a senior and captain of the Yale basketball team, champions of the Ivy League, currently playing in the NCAA basketball tournament for the first time in 54 years.

Read more: http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20160314/former-yale-university-basketball-captain-to-sue-school-over-expulsion

[KamaAina]

1. I certainly hope this does not distract them from the task at hand

sticking it to Baylor!

[24601]

8. Conversely, my judgment is that it's far more important to get the case decided correctly than it is

to win any game.

A few years ago, the allegation likely would have been taken at face value. But today, the confidence I once had in the fairness and accuracy of a university's disposition of a case has eroded. A university just can't be considered to not have an interest in the outcome and doesn't even have the appearance of objectivity. It's time to take the fact-finding out out the hands of schools. If a credible and "disinterested third party" - meaning one having no stake in the outcome - can assume the role of determining facts, then I'd be OK with a school retaining the role of applying their policies to the facts determined in a just process.

And it's time to consider whether measures need to be taken on the process side. Withholding an individual's identity should be the the decision of the individual when they are either the victim of an assault unless the allegation is determined to be false. Also, unsubstantiated, or "not proven" doesn't equal false. But the identity of the accused assailant also should be withheld at the individual's discretion unless and until the accusation is proven. There are just too many morons out there that jump from allegation to guilt without bothering to first determine that the allegation is true.

I say this as a parent of a daughter and a son in college. It's imperative that both of our kids remain safe and that includes not only safe from assault of any kind but also safe from unsubstantiated allegations of any kind. One of them (I'm not saying which) was assaulted at school. It was not a sexual assault, and the accused pled down to a misdemeanor. The state prosecutor got our kid's OK for the plea which dropped a felony charge - but the publicity in the local community's paper was unwelcome.

[exboyfil]

12. Agree with your points

I think that colleges should fund an independent review board staffed by retired judges and police officers as investigators. The review board should not be affiliated with a particular university (possibly regional boards?).

Also the accused should always have the opportunity to face their accuser and to have an attorney.

Another recent case from Texas highlights this. The student is not an athlete, but a senior Physics major.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/crime-law/men-accuse-ut-of-unfairly-punishing-them-for-sex-a/nqQcf/

[GummyBearz]

2. He said she said

The sad thing about this, is it seems when the male is guilty, the university covers it up (ie. Jamies Winston). But when the male is innocent (ie. 2006 Duke lacrosse team) they have to pay for a lawyer to get to the truth. Sex in college seems risky for school athletes... looking back, I am glad I was a lowly engineering major with respect to this

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. Campus kangaroo courts are risky in general, no sex or sexual impropriety required

Matters of sex and rape get the most attention but power given to amateur investigators, judges and hangmen is fucking insane.

A colleague's daughter is facing a campus kangaroo court right now for charges of hostility and harassment for being rather insistent that the registrar's office fix an error on her transcript that went unresolved for months and meant she didn't have the prerequisite for a course. She is facing expulsion for irritating a bureaucrat.

[snooper2]

5. or you could just record everything...honey, why is there a go-pro on your head?

just documenting memories!

[duplex]

3. its sad

I found this information on another blog (sports related) that highlight the incidents. Whatever the outcome, I hope that the truth is what comes to light and not a witch hunt of either the accuser of the accused.

http://thetab.com/us/yale/2016/03/14/jack-montague-is-going-to-sue-yale-2443


– The two students developed a relationship that led to them sleeping together in Jack’s room on four occasions in the fall of 2014.

– On the first occasion, the woman joined Jack in bed and stayed the night.

– On the second occasion, she entered his bed voluntarily, removed all of her clothes and, during the night, woke him to perform oral sex.

– On the third occasion, she joined him in bed, voluntarily took off all her clothing, and they had sexual intercourse by consent.

– On the fourth occasion, she joined him in bed, voluntarily removed all of her clothes, and they had sexual intercourse. Then they got up, left the room and went separate ways. Later that same night, she reached out to him to meet up, then returned to his room voluntarily, and spent the rest of the night in his bed with him.


The sole dispute is as to the sexual intercourse in the fourth episode. She stated that she did not consent to it. He said that she did.

[TipTok]

16. That's all that's necessary...

The school isn't concerned with facts but liability.

If they kick everyone at the first hint of conflict they can claim that they at least 'tried to act and resolve the situation'

[Vattel]

6. The Obama OCR in the Dept. of Ed. has made a mess out of due process

in sexual misconduct cases. The OCR has threatened universities with withdrawal of federal funds if the university doesn't adopt its absurd interpretation of what title IX requires. Sexual misconduct on university campuses is an extremely serious problem, but the solution isn't denying the accused anything that remotely resembles due process.

That being said, I have no idea whether there actually was sexual misconduct in the case in question.

[Nye Bevan]

7. The real police, not the university, should investigate all campus sexual assault allegations.

Let the criminal justice process take its course, and if somebody is convicted then expel them.

[Mosby]

10. why don't they?

I admit, I don't know anything about the process, why wouldn't alleged sexual assault be referred to the local city or county police?

[alp227]

13. some victims might not want to prosecute, limiting punishment inside the campus nt

[LisaL]

15. As far as I can tell, in a lot of these type of cases there is no evidence to actually prosecute.

Prosecutor isn't supposed to go to court unless he/she reasonably believes conviction is possible. But yet University is supposed to decide whether to expel somebody or not.

[LisaL]

14. If facts are as stated, I don't see how this case could ever be prosecuted.

Reasonable doubt all around. Yet he is expelled.

[Adrahil]

19. Well, it's complicated, right?

There has to be a difference between a reasonable doubt standard, needed for criminal prosecution, and a preponderance of the evidence standard, necessary for non-judicial action. I'm watching this play out locally. A particular guy has a ton of complaints, but nothing prosecutable. What should the University do?

[LisaL]

20. What would be the preponderance of the evidence University is using?

Considering the woman reportedly didn't report the incident for a year, it seems extremely unlikely there would be any physical evidence available.

[ericson00]

17. exactly. I would be scared to have boys going to college today over this.

and given that without ability to even gain admittance into a college (which being expelled for rape takes away), and how a college education is necessary for a societal/economic future, the fact that all colleges get taxpayer dollars(even private, just much less than state schools), requires a REAL due process for an allegation as serious and stigmatizing as rape.

[Mosby]

9. The dean must have consulted lawers, right?

Seems like they may have really screwed up, they couldn't even let him graduate?

[KamaAina]

11. Well, they do have a law school

That's where Bill met Hillary, as a matter of fact.

[ericson00]

18. I hope this goes to SCOTUS.

For sexual assault/rape allegations, colleges and universities MUST have due process with serious standards. Expelled-for-rape/SA students virtually cannot get back into college, and it remains on their transcripts indefinitely (which are ALL supposed to be sent to other colleges one applies to). Sex offender status (except for pedos) usually goes away after certain years. Criminal convictions can sometimes be sealed/expunged. Even tho the latter is more serious, all three expulsion for sexual assault/rape and, rap sheet, and sex offender registry severely limit one's economic/societal life. College kangaroo courts should be be "prosecuting" such a scenario.


I would be scared to have boys in college today. Also, the lack of confidence in the college-kangaroo court system hurts the women too, because it takes credibility away from potential allegations.

Let's not forget too that the problem also can arise in same-sex encounters too. I'm very glad to see progressives (as below) see the light on this.