The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) reported the results of a newly released poll on the topic of college campus due process:

The poll’s headline finding was that 91 percent of likely voters believed that local law enforcement, not college administrators, “should be primarily in charge of investigating alleged sexual assaults on college campuses.” While FIRE has been criticized for taking this position (including by opposing advocates at a Congressional hearing today [September 10, 2015]), we had a feeling—and a great deal of anecdotal evidence—that most people agreed with us that when it comes to sexual crimes, law enforcement should be taking the lead.

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Equally noteworthy for FIRE was the finding that the same overwhelming majority of 91 percent of likely voters believe that “students who are tried in university investigations for sexual assault should have the right to access counsel at their own expense.” FIRE has been at the forefront of pushing for the right to counsel for students accused of campus crimes, and has aided the passage of laws guaranteeing just that in North Carolina (the first such law in the nation) and North Dakota, with more such pushes planned. While this movement has come under heavy opposition from college administrators (who often have outsized influence at the state level), it has been quite popular with legislators and the public. 

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The entirety of the poll is worth reading. Overall, it’s a striking illustration of how out of touch college administrators can be with the ideas of justice that prevail for the average American voter, who tends to be rather fond of quaint ideas such as “having a lawyer,” “having the police investigate crimes,” and “not punishing people until they are found guilty.”

If only colleges and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights were similarly enamored.