J. Doe 1 v Trustees of Columbia Univ. in the City of N.Y.

Holding The court held that Columbia University’s disciplinary determinations were arbitrary and capricious because they relied on sealed arrest records, which are inadmissible under CPL 160.50 and 160.60, to establish the students’ presence in Hamilton Hall. Additionally, the court found that even if the arrest evidence were admissible, the record lacked sufficient evidence of individual conduct to support several of the charged violations.

The court’s words

the panel’s determinations that petitioners committed most of the charged disciplinary violations (as affirmed on administrative appeal) are arbitrary and capricious under CPLR 7803 (3)

89 Misc 3d 1094, at the official text

the Guidelines provide that evidence of ‘the actions taken by others in a larger group’ will not suffice to show that an individual committed Rules violations

89 Misc 3d 1094, at the official text

the UJB’s violation determinations are arbitrary and capricious, because a necessary element of those determinations (petitioners’ presence in Hamilton Hall) is supported only by inadmissible evidence

89 Misc 3d 1094, at the official text