In this series, I look at some of the protections afforded by Title IX that have received less attention in the media and political arena than Title IX’s applications to equity in athletics and campus sexual assault. Part 1 looked at Title IX’s protection against employment discrimination. Part 2 examined…
Boston Lawyer Blog
Beyond Sports and Sex Part 2: Title IX and Bullying/Harassment Based on Gender Stereotypes
In this series, I look at some of the protections afforded by Title IX that have received less attention in the media and political arena than Title IX’s applications to equity in athletics and campus sexual assault. Part 1 looked at Title IX’s protection against employment discrimination. To those people…
What do Rolling Stone, Harvey Weinstein, and Bill Cosby have in common? The law of defamation.
The last two years have been exceptionally active for defamation cases in matters involving allegations of sexual harassment or assault. Just during the last week, for example, a lawyer for Harvey Weinstein announced that he intends to sue the New York Times following an explosive story alleging he has sexually…
Doe v. University of Cincinnati: The Sixth Circuit Weighs in on Title IX and Due Process
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided Doe v. University of Cincinnati, upholding a preliminary injunction preventing the University of Cincinnati from suspending a student it found responsible for sexual assault. The decision is significant for all students facing suspension or expulsion at public colleges and universities. In the…
Beyond Sports and Sex Part 1: Employment Discrimination Claims Under Title IX
In this series, I look at some of the protections afforded by Title IX that have received less attention in the media and political arena than Title IX’s applications to equity in athletics and campus sexual assault. The common conception of Title IX is that it is a law aimed…
Massachusetts Changes its Felony Murder Doctrine for the Better
One fall evening in 2009, four men met up at one Timothy Brown’s apartment. They had earlier been driving around together when two of them, Hernandez and Hill, decided to rob two women at gunpoint. Hernandez, who had brandished a gun during the robbery, hid it in Brown’s kitchen when…
Title IX and Sexual Assault on College Campuses: Back to School Edition
Whether you are heading off to your first year of college, or are returning for your fourth (or sixth, or ninth) year of higher education, you are likely aware that sexual assault prevention is a big issue on college and university campuses today. We represent complainants and respondents in sexual…
BPD Attempts to Intimidate College Students Ahead of Rally, But Students Should be Able to Peacefully Protest
Yesterday, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans sent a message of warning to Boston-area college students ahead of a planned “Free Speech” rally and numerous counter-protests. He told college students “please act in a way that would make your school, your family, and your city proud and please respect our…
Supreme Judicial Court Reaffirms Disability Protections for Medical Marijuana Patients
In Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing, the Supreme Judicial Court recently blazed a trail as the first state high court to extend state employment protections to medical marijuana users where those protections were not explicitly spelled out in the medical marijuana statute. The SJC unanimously gave the green light…
Has Trump Violated Criminal Laws? If so, should he be prosecuted?
Three publications in the last two weeks have highlighted the issue of whether President Trump has violated criminal laws while in office. They also raise the question of whether, if he has, a prosecutor should or should not bring charges against him. In Thursday’s Boston Globe, Professor Alan Dershowitz argues…