It was published right at home in the March 1999 Columbia Law Review. The authors were two Columbia Law School professors, Vivian Berger and the late Curtis J. Berger. I have read the article and spoken to Vivian Berger, who is also general counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union. Professor Berger, in view of her extensive research on this issue and her own experience as a nationally recognized civil libertarian, wields particular authority in her opposition to Columbia's sexual misconduct policy. Her fields of expertise also include criminal law and contract law.
Contract law applies when a college guarantees certain rights to students when they register.
All were asked to respond, in detail, to a questionnaire on their standards of fairness. As my previous columns have shown, Columbia's policy is severely deficient in some of these fundamental requirements. In her comments to me, Vivian Berger emphasizes the policy's denial of the accused student's right to confront and cross-examine the accuser and the accuser's witnesses. She also criticizes the denial of the right to have an attorney present, even during an appeal. This thesis implies that all students, whether at public or private institutions . . .