‘No due process whatsoever’

“There was no hearing, no ability to confront the witnesses against him or even know who they were. There was no due process whatsoever,” Stephens said in an interview. When a freshman UGA student was facing expulsion after a one night Tinder hookup, the case ended up in the courtroom.  After receiving a letter saying the university found the student had “committed sexual assault” his attorney, Kim Stephens, filed a motion in Athens-Clarke County seeking a temporary restraining order to allow him to finish out his fall term at UGA.  A judge granted the motion and the student remained on campus while a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the proceedings moved forward.

UGA handed the lawsuit over to the state attorney general’s office. In legal papers, state lawyers argued the process was fair and noted the student chose not to challenge the expulsion ruling by filing an appeal with the school.

But emails obtained by the AJC through an open records request show state lawyers also moved immediately to strike a deal that would make the lawsuit go away.

Stephens, who has represented several student charged with sexual assault and harassment at UGA, Emory, and other universities, colleges and schools throughout Georgia, said he was especially concerned by UGA’s policy of not providing an in-person hearing to the accused and allowing a single campus official to investigate and adjudicate, which he said meant there was no independent review of the official’s decision.

“We’re exposing students to a one-sided process for something that is extremely serious that will follow them for the rest of their lives,” he said.