I am writing in response to the article in The Spectrum Wednesday reporting that a UB student has been suspended indefinitely for being alleged of a crime. This is absurd and goes against all notions of justice under the American Constitution.
We live in America, not Iraq or Iran, and in America one is innocent until proven guilty. Accordingly, punishment is not to be levied until after one is proven guilty in a court of law, not the court of public opinion. The Student Wide Judiciary made an egregious error in suspending the student. By doing this, it is not only depriving him of his fifth amendment right to due process of the law, it is also issuing a fiat preemptively declaring his guilt.
The justification for this action, according to Dennis Black, vice president of Student Affairs, is that the student poses a "clear and present danger." Using this line of reasoning, it should be the case that every student who has ever received a speeding ticket should be suspended, or at least stripped of their driving rights on campus, because surely they pose a "clear and present danger" to pedestrians crossing the roads. Punishing only this student is arbitrary and unconstitutional because it deprives him of the equal protection of the law, guaranteed by the 14th amendment.
Let us be clear here: The allegations against the student are very serious. However, to presume his guilt and arbitrarily label him as a "clear and present danger," while not classifying others as so is not only unwise, it is illegal. The SWJ should not have been so quick to act and impose the tyranny of the majority on a student who has been proven guilty of nothing thus far.
(Editor's note: The football team suspended the student in question from playing in games. Black told The Spectrum that generally, in a situation such as this, the punishment is suspension - after the defendant is proven guilty.)
