Student Rights
Accused Student Rights
Accused Student Rights (Sexual Assault)
Accusing Student Rights (Sexual Assault)
Accusing Student Rights (Violence to Persons)
Accused Student Rights
An accused student has the following rights:
- The right to a fair and impartial hearing.
- The right to a presumption of not being responsible for a violation until proven responsible as determined by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing.
- The right to be notified of the charges against him or her, the specific rule or policy violated, the time, date and place of the scheduled judicial hearing at least 72 hours prior to the hearing (except when the accused student postpones the hearing), provided the student has informed the university of his or her current contact information. If the student has not furnished the university with current contact information, JMU has only to make a reasonable attempt to notify him or her with the most recent contact information provided.
- The right to be present during the entire hearing (except for closed judicial deliberation or consultation) and to know and respond to all evidence used in the proceeding. The student may, however, elect not to appear.
- The right to remain silent.
- The right to be notified in writing of the decision of the judicial body or hearing officer within 10 days of the date of the hearing for the final decision in the case.
- *The right to a support person or attorney of his or her choice provided that person is willing and able to attend the scheduled hearing and advise the student during the judicial hearing process. The support person must be a student, faculty or staff member selected from the university community. The attorney can be anyone licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. A student may have an attorney or support person present if the Office of Judicial Affairs is notified within 48 hours of the hearing. An attorney or support person attending a hearing may not actively represent the accused student but may give advice to the student on how to present his or her case.
- *The right to question all witnesses who present at the hearing and/or to challenge all materials presented at the hearing.
- *The right to have witnesses, provided the witness is able to attend the scheduled hearing, or to provide witness statements in his or her defense. The judicial body shall have the authority to limit the number of witnesses in order to avoid unreasonable delays where the information would be repetitious or unnecessary.
- *The right to appeal to a higher judicial body or university administrative official within three class days of receiving the judicial decision for any of the following causes:
- Violation of due process and student rights
- New evidence
- Harshness of sanction(s)
- *The right to have access to a recording of his or her hearing for the purposes of preparing for an appeal. Students may not bring their own recording devices to council hearings. Recordings of the hearing will be destroyed after completion of the appeal process or after the time for appeal has passed.
* Not applicable to an administrative option hearing.
Note: If you are charged with Violence to Persons, the victim in the case will, by law, be notified of the outcome of your hearing pertaining to the Violence to Persons charge.
Accusing Students/Witness Against Rights
An accusing student of an alleged incident has the following right:
- The right to request a support person or attorney to be present with you in the judicial council process. (Note: The same guidelines will be given to the support person or attorney as stated in #7 of the accused student rights.)
Accusing Student Rights (Violence to Persons)
Accusing students of an alleged incident of violence have the following rights:
- The right to be informed of the results of the judicial proceeding.
- The right to request a support person or attorney to be present in the judicial council process. (Note: The same guidelines will be given to the support person or attorney as stated in #7 of the accused student rights.)
Accused Student Rights (Sexual Assault)
- The right to a fair and impartial hearing.
- The right to a presumption of not being responsible for a violation until proven responsible as determined by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing.
- The right to be notified of the charges against him or her, the specific rule or policy violated, the time, date and place of the scheduled judicial hearing at least 72 hours prior to the hearing (except when the accused student postpones the hearing) and provided the student has informed the university of his or her current contact information. If the student has not furnished the university with current contact information, JMU has only to make a reasonable attempt to notify him or her with the most recent contact information provided.
- The right to be present during the entire hearing (except for closed judicial deliberation or consultation) and to know and respond to all evidence used in the proceeding. The student may, however, elect not to appear.
- The student has the right to remain silent.
- The right not to have his or her past sexual history discussed during the hearing, except as it relates to the specific incident in question.
- The right to be notified in writing of the decision of the judicial body or hearing officer within 10 days of the date of the hearing for the final decision in the case.
- The right to a support person or attorney of his or her choice provided that person is willing and able to attend the scheduled hearing and advise the student during the judicial hearing process. The support person must be a student, faculty or staff member selected from the university community. The attorney can be anyone licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. A student may have an attorney or support person present if the Office of Judicial Affairs is notified within 48 hours of the hearing. An attorney or support person attending a hearing may not actively represent the accusing student but may give advice to the student on how to present his or her case.
- The right to relate his or her account of the incident.
- *The right to question all witnesses who present at the hearing and/or to respond to all materials presented at the hearing.
- *The right to have witnesses present, provided the person is able to attend the scheduled hearing, or to provide witness statements in his or her defense. The judicial body shall have the authority to limit the number of witnesses in order to avoid unreasonable delays where the information would be repetitious or unnecessary.
- *The right to one appeal to a higher judicial body or university administrative official within three class days of receiving the judicial decision for any of the following causes:
- Violation of due process and student rights
- New evidence
- Harshness of sanction(s)
- *The right to have access to a recording of his or her hearing for the purposes of preparing for an appeal. Students may not bring their own recording devices to council hearings. Recordings of the hearing will be destroyed after completion of the appeal process or after the time for appeal has passed.
* Not applicable to an administrative option hearing.
Accusing Student Rights (Sexual Assault)
An accusing student of an alleged sexual assault has the following rights:
- The right to a fair and impartial hearing.
- The right to be notified of the time, date and place of the scheduled judicial hearing at least 72 hours prior to the hearing (except when the accusing student postpones the hearing), provided the student has informed the university of his or her current contact information. If the student has not furnished the university with current contact information, JMU has only to make a reasonable attempt to notify him or her with the most recent contact information provided.
- The right to be present during the entire hearing (except for closed judicial deliberation or consultation) and to know and to respond to all evidence used in the proceeding. The accusing student may, however, elect not to appear.
- The right to remain silent.
- The right not to have his or her past sexual history discussed during the hearing, except as it relates to the specific incident in question.
- The right to be notified in writing of the decision of the judicial body or hearing officer within 10 days of the date of the hearing for the final decision in the case.
- The right to a support person or attorney of his or her choice provided that person is willing and able to attend the scheduled hearing and advise the student during the judicial hearing process. The adviser must be a student, faculty or staff member selected from the university community. The attorney can be anyone licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. A student may have an attorney or support person present if the Office of Judicial Affairs is notified within 48 hours of the hearing. An attorney or support person attending a hearing may not actively represent the accusing student but may give advice to the student on how to present his or her case.
- The right to relate his or her account of the incident and to make a “victim impact statement.”
- The right to request a change of on-campus residence or class.
- *The right to question all witnesses who present at the hearing and/or respond to all material presented at the hearing.
- *The right to have witnesses present, provided the person is able to attend the scheduled hearing, or to provide witness statements for his or her case. The judicial body shall have the authority to limit the number of witnesses in order to avoid unreasonable delays where the information would be repetitious or unnecessary.
- *The right to have access to a recording of the hearing for the purposes of preparing for an appeal. Students may not bring their own recording devices to council hearings. Recordings of the hearing will be destroyed after completion of the appeal process or after the time for appeal has passed.
- *The right to appeal to a higher judicial body or university administrative official within three class days of receiving the judicial decision for any of the following causes:
- Violation of due process and student rights
- New evidence
- Leniency of sanction(s
* Not applicable to an administrative option hearing.
