“Sexual Justice” Doesn’t Have to Mean Criminal Justice

April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month and with that, we are bringing you a conversation today about Title IX. One of the protections against sexual assault within our education system and in our workplaces.

In May of 2020, then Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gutted Title IX protections for schools, particularly as they pertained to sexual assault adjudication, giving schools the leeway to evade accountability procedures and disempower victims. This action was fueled by conservative backlash and men’s rights groups who consistently claim that there is lack of “due process” when it comes to allegations of sexual assault.

But is that really true? Or do we have a public misconception of due process? What does it mean for universities and employers to employ systems that are both fair and restorative? Alexandra Brodsky, Staff Attorney at Public Justice, asks these questions and offers up meaningful answers in her new book Sexual Justice: Supporting Victims, Ensuring Due Process, and Resisting the Conservative Backlash. Alexandra believes there is a system available to us all that empowers survivors and values due process, a process outside of the criminal legal system that can provide both accountability and reduce harm. She joins us today to break it all down.

Listener Note: We’re launching a three-week “Ask an Expert” podcast series about all things free speech: online censorship and deplatforming, campus speech and cancel culture and education and book bans. So here’s where you come in. We want to answer your questions! What does the law say about social media companies deplatforming users? Does our constitution support cancel culture? If you have a question you’d like us to answer, call us and leave us a message at 212-549-2558 or email us at podcast@aclu.org.