JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A recently release poll shows that an overwhelming majority of those surveyed believe students on college campus should be given due process rights.
The poll, conducted by Victory Enterprises on behalf of the Missouri Campus Due Process Coalition, surveyed 841 likely 2020 Missouri voters from March 3-4, 2019. The margin of error is +/- 3.5 percent.
“Our organization was created to ensure Missouri college students have the due process protections Americans expect and our Constitution requires,” coalition spokesman Matt Alsager said. “This poll is further proof that Missourians overwhelmingly believe that students should have their fundamental rights protected, even on Missouri’s college campuses.”
The Missouri Campus Due Process Coalition is backing two bills in the General Assembly that would guarantee students involved in misconduct investigations due process and allow those students to transfer their case to the Administrative Hearing Commission. SB 259 was voted out of the Senate Education Committee on February 26 and HB 573 will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday evening.
According to the survey, 84 percent believe that college students accused of misconduct should be considered innocent until proven guilty, 82 percent believe college students should be given due process rights, 56 percent of those surveyed would support reducing public funding for schools that deny students due process rights, and 82 percent believe students accused of misconduct should be allowed to review evidence against them.
The question of reducing funding was the only one that saw a significant split on the answers based on political ideology. 65 percent of conservatives were in support but only 44 percent of liberals. In all other questions, conservatives, and liberals were within 5 points of each other on approval.
The full poll and cross tabs can be found here.
Alisha Shurr was a reporter for The Missouri Times and The Missouri Times Magazine. She joined The Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University.
