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THE LAWH.R.128 is a bill that was introduced in the House of Represenatives as a result of the problems our family faced following the death of David. As is stated in the purpose of the bill, the David Shick Honesty in Campus Justice Act will amend the Federal Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) to improve the access of the victims of crimes to information concerning the outcome of disciplinary proceedings by institutions of higher education. Expecting that Colleges and Universities would want to release this information, FERPA specifically stated that: Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an institution of postsecondary education from disclosing, to an alleged victim of any crime of violence, or a nonforcible sex offense, the final results of any disciplinary proceeding conducted by such institution against the alleged perpetrator of such crime or offense with respect to such crime or offense Yet because of the way it is worded, school officials use FERPA as justification for non-disclosure, noting that while it permits them to disclose this information it does not require them to do so. H.R. 128 will close this loophole by striking: Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an institution of postsecondary education from disclosingand replacing it with:
thus allowing victims to find out what action will be taken against their attacker. Remember - This bill only applies to incidents of violent crimes and non-forcible sex offenses. Incidents of typical colleges mischief and youthful indiscretions will still be treated as confidential information. Additionally, should the perpetrator be found guilty, the majority of their academic records will still remain confidential, as is already the case under U.S. law. Only the perpetrator’s name, the violation committed, and any sanction/penalty imposed by the institution will be released to the victim or, should the case warrant it, the victim’s next of kin. See the full text of H.R. 128 and FERPA by clicking the buttons to the left |