school judicial hearing involving GLOs - HELP!
 

about two weeks ago a fraternity on campus was busted for an underage party. attending this party were 3 sororities (my own included) and 2 other fraternities. now, when the police came in they stormed the place like we were selling cocaine to grade schoolers.. i'm talking flashlights in the windows, undercover police, FIFTEEN CRUISERS, mobile police unit (that big winnebago type thing with the huge satellite dish on top of it), the paddy wagon, the whole sha-bang. they even blocked the street off so no one could drive down it. before anyone could leave the party they made us give our school IDs, and if you didn't have that, your license. anyone who didnt' have either was going to be arrested. when i was leaving i asked for a breathalyzer because i was NOT drinking. i was sober that night, i had not had even a sip of alcohol. i was refused, the officer stated she "wasn't interested" in whether or not i was drinking. a few brothers were arrested, they lost their house, and it is rumored that they lost their charter.
i got a letter the other day that told me thursday we have a mass hearing regarding this issue. 374 IDs were taken, about 250 were under 21. only the under 21 people must attend this hearing. we are being charged with "underage consumption of alcoholic beverages" and also "underage being in the presence of alcoholic beverages". because i was denied a breathalyzer i am very upset, but that is not my point... on the letter it stated that the "minimum sanction" would be parental notification AND a substance abuse program. pratenal notification- no big deal. i do not, however, have time for this stupid program...
we, as a greek community, are not recognized on campus, and we are very discriminated against. if a police officer sees you wearing letters he will follow you until you enter a building or are far enough away from campus that he doesn't think it is his problem anymore. we even recieved a lettera couple years back stating if you are caught drinking wearing letters you would be arrested on scene! :eek:
the problem is all the GLOs wear letters on thursdays. should we wear them? should we not? should we all wear pin attire? is it fair that i should be worring about wearing letters? should i contest my punishment because i was sober and denied a breathalyzer?

You shouldnt have be denied... thats wrong. Can they deny if you request it?!

they can deny if you request it same as you can deny to take it....it has to go both ways or it becomes a form of a double standard.

I'm not sure how to advise you about the hearing, other than to point out that you were, in fact, sober, and offered to prove it... Is it actually a crime to be under 21 and in the presence of alcohol even if you're not drinking? :eek:

Don't stop wearing your letters because of this incident. I'd even suggest a pin attire day - all greeks dress up and wear their pins on the same day.

Hang in there.

Hopefully the student judiciary is packed with fairminded people. You may see what you can do in order to testify. Student courts are tricky. They're not heald to the same standard as normal courts and they seem to have unchecked power sometimes within the system (I've had the supreme court at my school hand down opinions that directly contradicted themselves and were completely unconstitutional just to help one of their buddies accomplish something).

Why did the fraternity loose their house and/or charter? What would that have to do with anything? Does the school own it? Schools can't revoke charters, their HQ has to do that. It may be suspended as they often are during an investigation period.

the school contacted their nationals and told them about the underage drinking.. the fraternity is being charged with mass distribution... the loss of the house came from the board of health, they came in and made some lame ass excuse up to condemn the house.
greeks on campus are going a little crazy before this judicial hearing, it is all any of us are talking about.. they didn't give us the option to have a jury of our peers (this option is normally provided to all students in judicial matters). they are going directly to a hearing by the deans for all of us.

The fraternity's lawyers will probably have a field day with that Board of Health thing.. Well if they were SELLING the stuff that's one thing... Could bring some heavy fines. But condemning the property?

Well good luck in the hearing. Is it a public or private school?

I really don't get it. Is it a crime to be in the presence of alcohol there? I mean, if you're at a restaurant and someone at the next table has wine, can you be arrested? What if you're at the drug store and you accidentally happen into the liquor aisle? Will a cop pounce on you and drag you down to the station?

It sounds like sheer stupidity to me. As far as I'm concerned, in judicial proceedings (and I know this isn't a criminal matter as far as the school is concerned) the complaining party has the BURDEN OF PROOF. That would mean that whoever is complaining here has to prove that you all were intoxicated, and without evidence like breathalyzer test results or testimony of a police officer who personally witnessed anyone exhibiting signs of intoxication, I really don't see how they can prove anything but that you were there.

If I were in your place, I'd try to read up on the procedures used at these hearings. The only problem is that it kind of sounds like they're making up the rules as they go along -- like denying you a jury of your peers. However, if there are procedures outlined somewhere (like in a student judicial code) you all should familiarize yourself with them, and do what you can to make sure that they are being followed to the letter. My only question is that if they're not, to whom can you turn for help? Maybe an ombudsman or something, if your school has one?

If there are any local greek alumni in the area who are attorneys, you may want to give them a call and see if they can help you. They may not be able to help you at the actual hearing, but maybe they can help you understand the procedure and the law and give you ideas as to what to do to protect yourself. It really sounds to me like you guys are getting screwed.

P.S. Have there been criminal charges brought against those of you who were just there?

Good advice. Indeed.

I would also bet the school is just trying harassment. Ya'll could always sue the school for that... Often schoosl will throw their weight around to intimidate you. They also could charge you with their "Being in the presence of alcohol" crap. That you cant deny...you were there.

We dotn party like that on campus, you can even drink on campus if you are 21. The most the cops ever do here is give ya an MIP (Minor in Posession), pour out the booze and you go to court and get 6 mos. probation and a stupid class. Its not handled by the school. Now the school has a Zero tolerance ploicy when it comes to pot. Thats AUTOMATIC expulsion. No questions asked. But you have to be really stupid to smoke out in the dorms ON STATE PROPERTY. I like that they throw those kids out. Makes the school that much smarter.

Were fortunate, our school loves greeks. They see us as the key to a "more traditional campus" and we are very aware how fortunate we are.

I dotn know what to tell you. Other than to SERIOUSLY consult an attourney about your rights. Good luck.

Good advice. Indeed.

I would also bet the school is just trying harassment. Ya'll could always sue the school for that... Often schoosl will throw their weight around to intimidate you. They also could charge you with their "Being in the presence of alcohol" crap. That you cant deny...you were there.

We dotn party like that on campus, you can even drink on campus if you are 21. The most the cops ever do here is give ya an MIP (Minor in Posession), pour out the booze and you go to court and get 6 mos. probation and a stupid class. Its not handled by the school. Now the school has a Zero tolerance ploicy when it comes to pot. Thats AUTOMATIC expulsion. No questions asked. But you have to be really stupid to smoke out in the dorms ON STATE PROPERTY. I like that they throw those kids out. Makes the school that much smarter.

Were fortunate, our school loves greeks. They see us as the key to a "more traditional campus" and we are very aware how fortunate we are.

I dotn know what to tell you. Other than to SERIOUSLY consult an attourney about your rights. Good luck.

"Immediate proximity", usually defined as arm's length.

However, one defense is exclusivity, if someone over 21 claims the alcohol as theirs.

well we had our hearing..

answering your question ktsnake- public school, unversity of massachusetts.
the fraternity did indeed sell the alcohol, and did lose their charter... they are being held in criminal court, we are not.

as for the hearing we were basically told if we do not please guilty or no contest we will have to have another hearing in front of the deans in which our sentence could be raised and probably will not be dropped. one sister of mine and I were the only ones to contest the charges. we were not drinking, did not pay to get in, and refuse to accept this lying down. we will still be charged with being in the presence of alcohol, but we are getting sworn statements saying we were not drinking and we did not pay to get in.

this will take work but we are fighting it!

As for the fraternity they are up $h1t creek. They deserve to be there. Many states require you have a license/permit to sell alcohol. If that's the case in Massachusetts I can see why the Health Department would intervene. They're probably the body that controls issues like that. As far as the charges against you and other students get together and hire an attorney. If ya'll pay together it won't cost that much and probably just the act of doing that will scare the administration back into sanity.

Or maybe not. I've heard stories about how crazy UMASS administration is when it comes to punishing people for having fun:rolleyes:

What the law folks are telling you about "Burden of Proof" would be correct in the American judicial system. But remember, this is the school judicial system. It doesn't even pretend to be fair. It's a question of who's been able to pack the courts. I'd suggest that in the future Greek organizations in general might want to use their leadership to secure a majority on the Student Supreme Court (if you have one).

As I've said before in my personal dealings with the Student Supreme Court at Central Oklahoma I've recieved some nutty rulings. A great example of on said that my committee (the judiciary -- we approve presidential nominations before the senate gets to vote on them) was taking longer than the president liked to confirm his nomination for VP. They cited (and took way out of context) SENATE RULES in their ruling (out of their jurisdiction) and then stated that my committee had a deadline in getting the nomination through (can you say violation of separation of powers?). There were parts of the ruling that directly contradicted others.. it was great.

I just give that example to say that I know how inane student courts can seem at times. Get yourself an attorney and go after the school in *real* courts.