Expelled for Retweeting Hentai
Student Story
When incoming student Ash Mikkelsen was expelled without due process after retweeting sexually explicit Japanese-style cartoons featuring nudity and sex, known as hentai, FIREsprang into action — and won.
Due Process
What We Defend
Due process demands that authorities provide fair, unbiased, and equitable procedures when determining a person’s guilt or innocence. The same principle applies to judicial hearings on college campuses: If those campuses care about the justice and accuracy of their findings, they must provide fair and consistent procedures for the accuser and the accused.
History teaches that the rights of all Americans can be secured only through the establishment of fair procedures and with a consciousness that all are equal in the eyes of the law. Yet on many college campuses, the accused face “kangaroo courts” that lack fair procedures, in which the political viewpoint or institutional interests of the “judges” greatly affect the outcomes of trials. The accused are often charged with no specific offense, given no right to face their accusers, and sentenced with no regard for fairness or consistency. As a result, a generation of students is being taught the wrong lessons about justice — and face ruinous consequences in their personal, academic, and professional lives. College students and faculty must come to know that justice means more than merely the enforcement of the will of the powerful and the suppression of the views of the powerless.
Learn more about how due process protects US from governmental overreach
Newsdesk
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the news you need to stay informed about due process rights in higher education.
I’m relieved that the school has recognized its mistake and rectified its actions. Knowing that standing up for free expression will now allow other students to consume fictitious content without fearing punishment is the icing on the cake.
Have Your Due Process Rights Been Violated?
If you face suspension or expulsion from a public university, you have a right to hear the evidence against you and to have an opportunity to rebut it.
֭'s Guide to Due Process and Campus Justice
Resources
For a thorough analysis of your due process rights on campus, consult FIRE’s Guide to Due Process and Campus Justice to learn more about the rights that students should have within campus disciplinary proceedings and the warning signs that student due process rights may be at risk.
Due Process on Campus
Lesson
At too many American colleges and universities, students accused of conduct violations are put through “kangaroo courts” that lack fair procedures, in which social and political pressures or the institutional interests of the “judges” can greatly affect the outcomes of campus disciplinary procedures. Take this course to find out what your due process rights are, learn more about how other American universities treat due process, and empower yourself to use your knowledge of due process to make your school’s conduct process fairer for you and your peers.
Defending Your Rights
FIRE defends the rights of students and faculty through several core services.
Campus Rights Advocacy
Helping You
FIRE’s core defense program provides free assistance to individual students, professors, student media, and campus groups whose fundamental civil liberties are violated.
Reforming College Policies
Changing Higher Ed
FIRE’s college Policy Reform team works to proactively and systematically challenge campus policies that violate students’ and faculty members’ free speech and due process rights.
Legal Support
In the Courts
Facing a university investigation? Have officials refused to share evidence or follow fair procedures? ֭’s lawyers may be able to help.
Legislative Policy Reform
Changing Laws
FIRE advocates for individual rights at both the state and federal level by advocating on behalf of rights-protective legislation and against proposed laws that threaten student and faculty due process rights.
Data on Due Process
FIRE’s Student Attitudes on Due Process Survey analyzed 2,225 college students’ attitudes toward due process and campus disciplinary proceedings on college campuses.
Spotlight on Due Process
Due process and fundamental fairness are in crisis on America’s college and university campuses. FIREanalyzes disciplinary procedures at 53 top-ranked institutions nationwide and rates them based on 10 fundamental elements of due process.
Spotlight on Due Process, 2021-2022
Research
Colleges and universities across the country fail to afford their students due process or fundamental fairness in disciplinary proceedings.
Spotlight on Due Process, 2020-2021
Research
FIRE’s research reveals that institutions nationwide are refusing to implement a single, fair disciplinary process for all students.
Become a Free Speech Insider!
Subscribe to FIREupdates to get the latest free speech news in your inbox as it happens!
