UF basketball coach accused of sexual harassment and stalking per The Alligator

this is the thing - it's all about public perception and that also reflects on the university. There needs to be an incredible amount of evidence in Golden's favor to completely make this go away. With him still coaching, they must have a good deal of it - or this could seriously blow up in the university's face.

 

Title IX, implemented in 1972 to level the playing field in sports (include women sports equally) has been broadened in use to such an extent that it no longer resembles its original intent and in fact, has become draconian in nature. The major question is how sexual misconduct is consistent with the stated intent of Title IX to address "discrimination".

The entire process has become a deplorable way to remedy injustice like sexual misconduct, when appropriate avenues exist in the legal system under criminal statutes. The system is allegedly "without press" but once the cat is out of the bag (Alligator), which occurs more often than not, it facilitates an unjust situation where an accused (defendant in legal action) is placed in an unethical and unreasonable situation. Title IX is an antiquated process for the situation at hand because "the jury of public opinion" runs capriciously, accepting all accusations as truthful. The accused has no real recourse and is left to suffer through a clandestine process that in no way resembles the American legal process. It is virtually incomprehensible to citizens like us who are used to legal proceedings and creates far more questions and unfair consequences than it answers.

Investigations can be handled by campus police and can last for unspecified times, often for over a year without resolution. The accused does not face a jury of his peers but instead a university panel composed of 3-5 individuals, who may include faculty members, administrators and even students. Given internal biases that many faculty members and administrators hold against sports in the academic arena, this clearly constitutes an unfair paradigm.

Beyond these prejudices, Title IX does not employ the basic standards of criminal justice in the American judicial system. Specifically, a presumption of innocence with a standard of guilty beyond reasonable doubt is replaced with a weaker standard of the "preponderance of the evidence". Furthermore, the emboldened panel that decides the fate of the accused does not have to agree unanimously like in a criminal trial. A verdict of three out of five is perfectly acceptable.

Title IX had a legitimate role when it was enacted in 1972 to deal with discrimination against women's sports. However, it is an unjust and unfair bully puppet in matters like those encountered by Todd Golden. I would suggest that notwithstanding the rush to judgment, we apply the understood presumption of innocence before we hang the man electronically.

 

While I agree with your statement, the legal system is no beacon of fairness right now either.

 

Can’t really agree.

The legal standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt” is the standard of criminal Justice, as I’m sure you well know given your well articulated post. That high bar exists to take a persons liberty away or imprison them.

That isn’t what is at issue here. The issue here, is whether this person should continue getting paid millions of dollars and be one of the most public representatives of the University. In that case, “preponderance of evidence” is a fine standard.

I do agree we should wait to see where the “preponderance of evidence” points - and hopefully UF reacts accordingly either way.

 

I thought Title IX was in place to address gender discrimination, not provide an alternative forum for a 51-49 standard for sexual misconduct allegations. The things the Alligator addresses aren't discrimination. It's not like we've got 14 basketball scholarships for men and 10 for women. It's about alleged stalking and intimidation and assault and other criminal behavior. There are laws and a whole system in place to address that.

 

The two words “emboldened panel” might be the most frightening part. Get the 3 of the wrong 5 people on the panel and you’re toast.

 

Yes exactly, so why not pursue those avenues instead of Title IX and a public smear campaign via The Alligator.

 

But these decisions can ruin the life of the people who are accused. This is a quasi-judicial system that lacks a lot of the protections that exist in the justice system, like the ability to face your accuser and cross-examine them. I understand the need to protect the victim, but should that happen at the expense of the accused?

 

I think the main difference here is that it doesn't have to be unanimous in this situation. That could be good or bad. Regarding being presumed innocent in legal proceedings, I think we can all agree is a fairy tale in many cases. But this thread is not about the legal process.

Either way I think all Gator fans should hope for a full investigation to find the truth. It is hard to pick a side because I like Coach Golden and want him to be successful, but I also love my fellow Gators and want them to be left the hell alone from creepy people.

 

Based upon the eagerness with which many here are ascribing credibility to these allegations, the ability of the accused to ever regain their reputation, in the event the allegations are refuted, is limited. I can see decades of "well, he wiggled out of it but we all know..." innuendo. People here are already prognosticating that there are street cams, etc showing the alleged activities. Some of y'all live in dark places.

The era of deep fakes, and manipulation of technology should have all of us skeptical but we haven't developed that instinct yet.

 

I assume you are a bot until proven otherwise.

 

So if he is found guilty of Title IX by this panel, is he automatically fired - or is there a chance to appeal. I would imagine at that point even with an appeal he’s gone anyway, based on optics alone

 

Guilty until proven innocent

 

Agreed, if he's allowed to coach and then found guilty, that'll be a poor reflection on UF. The UAA release should have included a simple vote of confidence, saying something along the lines of "as the University believes CTFG will be cleared of all allegations, he status remains unchanged..."

 

How do I establish my bona fides?

 

Post a paragraph about viagra without typos.

 

I was hoping for that. Now I hope letting him remain on the job is from confidence.

 

I think they are required to keep him on unless there is an emergency situation including an impending danger. Like if someone on the team or staff felt threatened by his presence. New rules, see DuvalGator's post on pg 30.

 

I doubt there is an incredible amount of evidence in Golden's favor. According to the leaked document, the complaint was filed by UF's Interim Title IX Coordinator. Can't believe that this individual (an attorney with years of experience with oversight of sexual misconduct investigations and compliance experience, including at another Power 5 institution) would be filing something like this on the basis of spurious allegations. To the contrary, the Interim Title IX Coordinator must feel there was more than substantial evidence in order to file the complaint in the 1st place. I mean, this is serious stuff. The allegations are pretty darn specific, and a digital trail is extremely difficult to erase.

 

If you’re curious what craziness will probably happen with this story in the coming months refer to Walter McCarty’s tenure at Evansville. THAT got worse and worse the more he proclaimed his innocence the worse things started coming out.