A Louisiana State Senate panel voted earlier this month to table a bill that would have provided a way for inmates convicted by non-unanimous juries to challenge their sentences after such jury verdicts were designated unconstitutional.
Title IX reporting rates have increased considerably following an overhaul of the universityâs Title IX office, notable especially because there are fewer enrolled students during the summer, interim Vice President of the office of Title IX and Civil Rights Jane Cassidy said.
Multiple factors are behind the increase in reports: the 18 recommendations in the Husch Blackwell report, the list of 47 action items sponsored by Cassidy at a Board of Supervisors meeting, and most recently, the legislature.
Three sexual assault-related bills passed through the House and Senate during the first session of 2021, the most notable of which is HB 409, now Act No. 472 after being signed off by Gov. John Bel Edwards. The House Bill zeroed in on LSUâs numerous violations of Title IX law and established strict guidelines that were lacking in previous legislation.
A Louisiana State Senate committee called for nine LSU employees and Board of Supervisors members, along with one Taylor Porter attorney associated with a previous LSU investigation, to testify at a hearing Thursday regarding the Universityâs mishandling of sexual misconduct cases. However, the University confirmed Wednesday that no LSU officials will testify.
This will be the Louisiana Senate Select Committee on Women and Childrenâs third hearing on this issue, following two previous meetings where multiple prominent members of the LSU community provided accounts of how the University has historically mishandled sexual misconduct cases.
The Universityâs decision to not provide testimony at the April 8 hearing comes immediately after Speaker Pro Tempore Tanner Magee said that legislators will require LSU to properly address the problems of handling sexual assault cases if the University wishes to continue receiving funds from the state.
A group of LSU students held a sit-in protest outside of the Universityâs football facility in response to the suspension of two LSU officials who mishandled sexual assault allegations, not allowing athletes or LSU faculty to leave the premises.
Protestors were prompted to converge at the Alex Box parking lot before rallying upon the LSU Football Operations Center 11 a.m. Monday and stayed until shortly after 2 p.m. There were around 50 students attending the sit-in, blocking all entrances and exits from the parking lot outside of the LSU Football Operations Center.
The University hired law firm Husch Blackwell to investigate the Universityâs existing Title IX practices after a November USA Today report revealed that Deputy Athletic Director Verge Ausberry was aware that former LSU football player Drake Davis assaulted LSU womenâs tennis player Jade Lewis. After the report was released Friday, the University announced that two LSU officials, Ausberry and Senior Assoc