Law Schools

The Crazy Scandal At John Jay Everybody Would Be Talking About If The SCOTUS Nominee Wasn't Accused Of Attempted Rape

Speaking of how schools allow a culture of sexual harassment and abuse...

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Over the weekend, a huge scandal broke about a university dedicated to the pursuit of justice and, surprisingly, it doesn’t involve Yale Law School.

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice has been rocked with appalling revelations about professors, drug use, and prostitution. From the New York Times:

State authorities are investigating allegations that several longtime professors at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan committed a wide range of crimes and other misconduct, according to documents and people briefed on the inquiry.

The allegations include the use and sale of drugs on campus, the attempt to coerce women into prostitution, and rape.

John Jay attracts undergraduates interested in criminal justice from both the legal and law enforcement perspective. Many of their graduates go on to attend law school, and many of them go on to begin careers in law enforcement.

Most of the professors named in two complaints filed with the college have been longtime fixtures in John Jay’s anthropology and sociology departments who have done extensive research on the history of drug use and prostitution.

The allegations, if proven, would suggest that a small group of faculty at the Midtown campus, long the choice of police and correction officers and others in law enforcement, presided over an academic underworld. Drug use and sex were said to be common in the offices of some professors and in an area known as “the Swamp” in one of the school’s buildings.

Initial complaints were filed against professors in May, but the Times report details a questionable internal investigation which some claim “re-traumatized” victims seeking redress.

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In a phone interview Saturday night with the two women, they confirmed the allegations in their complaints and criticized the investigation conducted by John Jay.

“They were incredibly rude and victim-degrading,” Ms. Cojocaru said. “They made us perform like circus animals, distorted the facts, and distorted what we talked about. They tried to brush the whole thing under the rug, so to speak. They retraumatized us by making us relive all sorts of traumatic experiences.”

It’s hard to read these complaints and not come to the conclusion that the whole patriarchy needs to be BURNED TO THE GROUND. The only problem is that there don’t seem to be nearly enough matches.

John Jay Professors Face Allegations of Drug Sales and Sexual Misconduct [New York Times]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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