The Cornell 7 case is a paradigmatic example of why we have trial by jury and not trial by public opinion. 

Public discourse on divisive, politically charged topics often flattens important nuances that are relevant to forming principled conclusions.  This was especially apparent in what has become known as the Cornell 7 rape case.  This case challenges all of us to think about both the moral and legal implications of what happened at the Chi Phi fraternity, issues of due process, issues of anonymity, and issues of victims’ rights.  We as a public are failing to confront these issues reasonably. 

Whether any or all of the seven students sued in a civil lawsuit are liable to Jane Doe for sexual assault or other torts is for a jury to decide after weighing the evidence.  Two of the sued students were expelled from Cornell; expulsion is the most severely a university can punish students in Title IX proceedings. Jane Doe’s lawsuit accused the seven students collectively, but Cornell’s Title IX investigation found that two of the students did not touch Jane Doe, see her naked, or do any drugs – they entered the room for short periods.  Another student’s attorney has asked for him to be removed from the lawsuit because he, at most, engaged in forcible kissing, for which he argues the statute of limitations has expired.  This defendant does not concede that he actually engaged in forcible kissing except for the purposes of a dismissal motion. 

Jane Doe’s civil case will also involve whether any of the Cornell 7 coerced Jane Doe into using drugs and whether they had a legal duty to stop others from any illegal behavior.  Legal duties and moral duties are not coextensive.  Many immoral, despicable acts are still legal, because engaging the state’s machinery to take away someone’s liberty or property carries downsides.  We limit the state’s ability to coerce behavior.  Tort law is especially loathe to establish affirmative duties on us to protect others, so long as we ourselves aren’t actively hurting anyone, but these affirmative duties do exist in some circumstances.  Thus, the question of whether the conversations that happened in the Chi Phi group chat were immoral, horrifying, or degrading is a different question than whether any or all of the defendants violated the law. The group chat could be evidence of criminal acts without consent, but their immorality does not make them illegal.

Jane Doe has also sued Cornell University, for failing to protect her and thus breaching its contract to her, Moonies Bar, for serving her when she was under 21 (Moonies denies this in the press), her sorority, for not exercising its duty of care to prevent her from becoming intoxicated, and the Chi Phi fraternity, for not protecting her from defendants. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading an independent investigation to determine whether to charge any or all of the seven with a crime.  The Cornell 7 were not previously charged in 2024 because New York law is fairly stringent.  Rape through intoxication, meaning the victim does not have the capacity to consent, can occur if either (1) the victim is unconscious or (2) the victim was forcibly drugged against her will or without her awareness.  In this case, Jane Doe had told police that she had taken alcohol and ketamine willingly, which led in part to prosecutors not originally pursuing charges.  There are other avenues that might show a lack of consent, but incapacity seems the most on point in this case. Simple intoxication is not enough, because then both parties to many consensual encounters might be converted into criminals, but other states can have more graduated approaches, requiring defendant to be aware that the victim didn’t have capacity to consent.

There are many complex aspects to this case, with potentially different levels of culpability for different defendants.  Yet, many members of the public have acted like this case is open and shut – either Jane Doe is a liar who regrets her consensual decisions or every member of the Cornell 7 is a monstrous criminal who deserves to never work or experience peace again.  The public’s deficiencies processing information deliberately and rationally have led to harm to both Jane Doe and to the seven named current and former Cornell students she accuses of rape. Jane Doe’s home was swatted – someone falsely called the police to report a crime occurring at her home, and her family was held at gunpoint by the police.  The names of the Cornell 7 have been released, but the judge in the civil suit has required their addresses be removed because they have also been subject to harassment.  No one can make any particular determination at this point – Letitia James is still gathering evidence — so the violence and harassment against anyone associated with this case – Jane Doe or the Cornell 7 — demonstrates a level of certainty driven by not having sufficient intellectual humility and epistemological doubt.  Aspects of these cases have moral and legal complexity, and, even if they do not, we do not have total clarity of information on clear-cut issues. Perhaps the truth (factual, legal, or moral) is not even entirely known to some of those involved in this case.

This dogmatic certainty is also demonstrated on other complex issues, when students shout down speakers instead of engaging in dialog, or shut down events instead of allowing listeners an opportunity to receive information.  Our current approach to education and social media are to blame for the black and white thinking that accompanies controversial issues.  Colleges, as has been demonstrated for at least a decade, do not expose students to sufficient diversity of opinions in their professors and their programs.  This affects society’s ability to properly engage intellectually, instead of emotionally, reflexively, or ideologically, with difficult topics.  This problem is getting worse.

Cornell is in a difficult position.  Cornell cannot both protect the federally required privacy of the suspended students who have returned to campus (and whose dorm addresses were released by Cornell students) and protect the students who feel uncomfortable with these students having returned to campus (even though they have admitted no wrongdoing and were deemed by Cornell not to have committed sexual assault).  It is unfortunate that so many people have decided that swatting, doxing, and harassing are superior to discussing, learning, and rule of law, but I do hope we educators train our students better than this.