Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg says that colleges go too far in disrespecting the rights of the accused. “Well, that must not be ignored and it goes beyond sexual harassment,” she told Jeffrey Rosen of The Atlantic in an article which appeared the day after Valentine’s Day. “The person who is accused has a right to defend herself or himself, and we certainly should not lose sight of that.”
“Recognizing that these are complaints that should be heard. There’s been criticism of some college codes of conduct for not giving the accused person a fair opportunity to be heard, and that’s one of the basic tenets of our system, as you know, everyone deserves a fair hearing.”
Rosen asked her point blank, “Are some of those criticisms of the college codes valid?”
“Do I think they are?” Justice Ginsberg answered. “Yes.”