Trial Procedures for Trial Chair

Written: January 2011 by Anna Brockway ‘12 and Emily Dix ‘12
Last Revised: February 2011 by Anna Brockway ’12

Prior to the trial

1. Once Honor Council consents to send an issue to a trial, the HC secretaries should begin forming a jury following procedures outlined in the Constitution.
2. The confronted and confronting parties should be emailed immediately following the meeting where Honor Council reviewed their statements.
   1. Let them know what Honor Council decided. If the case is going to proceed, explain briefly what they should expect moving forward.
   2. The email to the confronted party should include a brief summary of the confronting party’s statement and make clear what they are being confronted for.
   3. The email to the confronting party should also include a brief summary of the confronted party’s statement.
   4. Include a note in both emails that the fact that an Honor Council proceeding is going on is confidential. Tell them that we understand that given the potentially stressful nature of an Honor Council proceeding, they may want to confide in several people who are close to them about the trial. However, they should not reveal the identity of the other party or of anyone on the jury. Additionally, out of consideration to the other party, they should be mindful of the number of people they tell about the proceeding.
   5. Suggestion: attach the trial procedure documents (the trial flow chart and Universal Trial Procedures) to the emails to the confronted and confronting parties. Let them know that they can look at past abstracts on the Honor Council website (www.haverford.edu/code).
3. Once the secretaries have formed a jury, they will email the list of jurors to the confronted and confronting parties.
   1. Each party can remove up to two jurors if they feel the jurors cannot be objective (Constitution Section 7.02 (a)).
   2. If any jurors were removed, the secretaries should select more jurors and inform the confronted and confronting parties of their identities.
   3. If either party has not yet removed two jurors, that party may remove one or two of the newly drawn jurors, for a total of two.
   4. This process should continue until a full jury is reached.
4. Once the involved parties have seen a list of the full jury, the Trial (Co-)Chair should email the identities of the involved parties to the jury members. IMPORTANT: The identity of the confronted and confronting parties should not be revealed until the parties have confirmed that they do not have a conflict of interest with those jurors.
   1. The jury members should either be emailed individually or bcc’ed on one email, so they don’t know the other jurors’ identities before a jury is finalized.
   2. The jurors should be asked if they have a conflict of interest with any of the involved parties, such that they feel they could not be objective in an Honor Council Proceeding. If so, those jurors should remove themselves.
   3. If any jurors remove themselves, the secretaries should be informed and draw more jurors, following steps 3b-3d above. This process should continue until a full jury is reached.
5. The Trial (Co-)Chair should email the full jury and involved parties to request their weekly schedules.
   1. Suggestion: Ask them to color-code a spreadsheet for ease of reading. It works well to ask jurors to code classes and scheduled work in one color and other times they would rather not meet, but could if they had to, in another color. Ask students for the nature of their conflicts in case scheduling becomes difficult.
6. The Trial (Co-)Chair should schedule the initial meeting and fact-finding portion and reserve a room.
   1. The Council Meeting Room requires no reservations, but check with the Students’ Council Presidents (and maybe VPs) about when they do appointments etc. so you don’t run into them.
   2. Good classrooms include Sharpless 410 and 412. You can reserve classrooms during times that classes are in session (night classes are held 7-10 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays) by emailing Lee Watkins (lwatkins@haverford.edu). To reserve a classroom at any other time, you should email Judy Young (jyoung@haverford.edu).
   3. The DC backrooms are good if it isn’t a nighttime meeting. These rooms can be reserved following procedures on Go!
   4. Note: Sharpless 410 and 412 are sometimes locked on weekends and Safety and Security cannot just let you in unless you are on their schedule. If you need to be let in for a meeting that had to be scheduled last-minute, ask to talk with the GA (Graduate Assistant) on call. They have the authority to ask S&S to let you in.
7. Email Geoff (glabe@haverford.edu) at the Coop 24 hours in advance to order breadsticks.
   1. Six whole breadsticks (12 halves) is a good number to order for jury meetings.
8. The secretaries should prepare folders for the jury. Each folder should contain:
   1. notepad and pen
   2. confronting party’s statement(s)
   3. confronted party’s statement(s)
   4. copy of the Honor Code
   5. copy of the most recent Trial Procedures from the Constitution
   6. copy of Trial Procedures for the Jury

Preliminary Meeting
(Participants: Jury)

1. This meeting can be separate or before the Fact-Finding Portion. It usually takes about an hour. The goal is to give the jury an opportunity to meet and be briefed on the case, trial procedures, and other things to keep in mind. This is also when the jurors will read the original (i.e. unpseudonymized) statements that the Honor Council (Co-)Chair(s) received from the confronting and confronted parties. Remember to bring the folders the secretaries put together. If there is the potential for documents to be used (e.g. the exam or paper in question) or the confronted or confronting parties have requested witness(es), this is the best time for the jury discuss this and consent on whether and how to use them.
2. Moment of silence.
3. Introductions, get a list of phone numbers.
4. Read the Honor Code.
5. Confidentiality
   1. Tell of participation in trial only on a need-to-know basis.
   2. You may speak to Psych Services, parents, people who are not and never will be involved with the Haverford community.
   3. Obviously, no names can ever be shared.
   4. Once the abstract is released, you can break your own confidentiality as someone who was on the jury for this trial, but you cannot break anyone else’s confidentiality (including other jury members).
6. Trial Procedures
   1. Brief jury members on the procedures to be followed (in most cases, Universal Trial Procedures from the Constitution)
   2. Talk about how the consensus process works
7. A Jury’s goal (lend them an EAR):
   1. Education (involved parties, ourselves, abstract for the community)
   2. Accountability (hold the involved parties accountable for their actions)
   3. Restoration (repair the breach of trust between the parties and with the community)
   4. Discuss that Honor Council proceedings are intended to be restorative rather than punitive
8. Give jury background on the issue, be sure to make this unbiased
9. Let the jury read the parties’ statements
10. If necessary, discuss use of documents and/or witnesses
11. Ask jury to take notes throughout the trial and to put their names on their notepads.
12. End with a moment of silence.

Fact Finding
(Participants: Jury, Confronted, Confronting)

1. Goal: To hear from the confronted and confronting parties as to what happened and to be able to ask them about it
2. Logistics
   1. Make sure to print any additional documents (such as copies of a paper) the jury will want to reference. (It works best to print enough for each juror and the confronted and confronting parties to have a copy).
   2. Suggestion: Give the involved parties and the jury the same arrival time. That way, you can invite the parties in and give them a chance to talk informally while waiting for everyone to get there. This can help set a more relaxed atmosphere. If you want to say a few words to the jury beforehand, just ask the parties to step out in the hallway.
3. Introductions
   1. This is the last chance that jurors have to remove themselves.
   2. Suggestion: it’s also good to include things like class year, hometown, major so that people relax a little and don’t just speed through names.
4. Review procedures
   1. Review the discussion of confidentiality for the benefit of the confronting and confronted parties (make explicit that there are slightly different guidelines for jurors and involved parties in whether or not they can discuss an Honor Council proceeding. See section 2d in “Prior to the Trial”). Emphasize that the trial should not be freely referenced until the abstract is released and that they can break their own confidentiality but no one else’s.
   2. Tell jurors to take notes. Reiterate this through the entire trial.
   3. Explain what is relevant to fact finding, emphasize that this is the fact finding portion, not circumstantial.
5. Let each party speak uninterrupted, then answer questions. Either one party can speak and answer questions, then the other can, or both parties can speak individually, then answer questions simultaneously. Use your judgment as to what would be best for a particular situation.
6. Parties can ask each other questions, jury can continue asking questions, engage in discussion.
   1. Jury and involved parties should be told ahead of time that it is acceptable to ask confronting or confronted to leave the room for certain questions.
7. Thank parties and ask them to leave.
8. The confronting party should be either told or reminded at this point that they are encouraged, but not required, to attend the Circumstantial Portion and Finalizing Resolutions meeting.

Statement of Violation
(Participants: Jury)

1. Can be directly after fact finding or at a separate meeting
2. Jury should first discuss whether or not there was a violation of the Honor Code.
   1. Suggestion: have the jury read the Honor Code again at this point.
3. The jury should consent on a violation or non-violation.
   1. If the jury consents that there was no violation, resolutions can still be offered and should be consented on by the jury. However, the trial itself is over.
   2. If the jury consents on a violation, their next task is to formulate and consent on a statement of violation, which states how the Honor Code was violated.
4. If the jury is not able to consent in one meeting, it is okay to take a breather and reconvene later that day or the next (whatever works). If this occurs, the Trial Chair should email the involved parties and let them know that the jury was not able to consent and when they will reconvene.

Post Fact Finding Portion

1. Send statement of violation/ decision that there was no violation (and if applicable, suggested resolutions) to the confronted and confronting parties. It’s also good to update the Dean of the College at this point.
2. Ask confronted and confronting parties to be prepared to propose resolutions at the end of the circumstantial portion
   1. Find out whether the confronting party plans to attend the circumstantial portion. The proposed resolutions can be sent by email if the confronting party does not wish to attend.

Circumstantial Portion
(Participants: Jury, Confronted; optional: Confronting)

1. Goal: To understand more fully the circumstance in which the violation occurred. Confronted and offer defense; jury can gain perspective through questions.
2. Jury and party(ies) should be told ahead of time that it is acceptable to ask confronting or confronted to leave the room for certain questions.
3. Review the goal of this portion
4. Ask confronted party to talk about circumstances. Give jurors time to ask questions.
5. If confronting party is present, ask them to talk about their reactions to confronted party’s actions. Give jurors time to ask questions.
6. Confronted is first asked to suggest and discuss their proposed resolutions, followed by the proposed resolutions of the Confronting (or the confronting party’s emailed resolutions are read aloud).
7. Jury is given time to discuss proposed resolutions with the parties and potentially get their reactions to resolutions the jury is thinking about.
8. The involved party(ies) are thanked and asked to leave.

Tentative Resolutions
(Participants: Jury)

1. This meeting can either immediately follow the circumstantial portion or occur soon after. Especially if this meeting does not occur immediately after the circumstantial portion, juries should be reminded of the parties’ proposed resolutions.
2. Reiterate the goals of Education, Accountability, and Restoration.
3. Come up with a set of tentative resolutions. Discuss the parties’ proposed resolutions and other possible resolutions the jury feels necessary to address the breach of trust, restore the party(ies) to the community, etc. Consent on the set of tentative resolutions.
   1. Suggestion: It works well to identify the jury’s concerns at the beginning (things they want to make sure are addressed) and then move through those systematically with an eye to addressing each through the resolutions.
4. If the jury is not able to consent in one meeting, it is okay to take a breather and reconvene later that day or the next (whatever works). If this occurs, the Trial Chair should email the involved parties and let them know that the jury was not able to consent to tentative resolutions and when they will reconvene.
5. After the jury consents, tell the jurors that they are entering a reflection period. Between this meeting and the meeting to finalize resolutions they should not talk with anyone (including other jurors) about the trial and the resolutions. Explain the reasoning behind waiting 24-48 hours before the next meeting (i.e. giving the jurors time to reflect on the tentative resolutions and decide for themselves whether they feel right).
6. (After the meeting) Send tentative resolutions to confronting and confronted parties.
   1. Find out whether the confronting party will be attending the meeting to finalize resolutions. If not, ask them to submit a written response to the resolutions.

Finalizing Resolutions
(Participants: Jurors only first, then confronted [optional: confronting], then jurors only)

1. The jurors should meet alone first to discuss whether or not everyone is still in support of the resolutions, and whether any jurors feel changes should be made after having had the chance to reflect.
2. Consent to change the tentative resolutions or keep them the same.
3. The confronted and confronting (optional) are brought in.
4. The jury should explain it’s reasoning for each resolution and any changes (if applicable), then ask for the confronted/confronting’s responses to the resolutions. Any concerns should be discussed.
   1. If the confronting party has chosen not to attend, their response to the resolutions should be read.
   2. Jurors can probe for how the confronted/confronting feel.
5. The confronted and confronting parties leave.
6. The jury should discuss and come to new resolutions or confirm final resolutions.
7. The jury must consent to each resolution individually and to then all resolutions as a group.
8. Once the jury has consented to final resolutions:
   1. Choose a liaison to President of the College (ask for volunteer from the jury). If the case is appealed, this person will explain the jury’s decision to the President so that (s)he can understand our process/reasoning.
   2. Choose abstract writers (ask for one community juror and one Honor Council juror to volunteer). If this was a uniquely long proceeding (double the usual number of meetings), the abstract can be split among more writers by consent of the jury.
      1. Explain process/timing to abstract writers: Trial (Co-)Chair writes the Chair’s Report, then the report is sent to the abstract writers. Generally, the writers will split up sections of the report to summarize in abstract form.
   3. Collect all notes for help with the Chair’s Report.
   4. Tell jury that although Honor Council will ultimately consent on a release date for the abstract, they will take the jury’s suggestions into account. Ask the jury to discuss whether or not the abstract should be delayed, and write down their recommendation to be passed along to Honor Council.
9. Remind jurors that the trial is confidential until released as an abstract. At that time they may break their own confidentiality but no one else’s.

Post Trial

1. Immediately following the meeting to finalize resolutions, send final resolutions to the confronted and confronting party.
   1. Remind them that they have to opportunity to appeal and tell them where they can find appeal guidelines.
   2. “The involved parties have a period of five business days from the time of the trial’s completion in which to appeal to the President to change the resolution(s). The appeal must be presented orally and in writing, and may be made on either substantive or procedural grounds.” (Constitution, section 7.02 (e) vi.)
2. Chair’s Report
   1. Note about timing: The Constitution states that the abstract must be consented upon by Council within 9 weeks of the completion of the trial. In the past, this has been divided into 3 weeks for completion of Chair’s Report, 3 weeks for abstract writers, and 3 weeks for Abstract Committee and Council. However, this system inevitably leads to things getting pushed back and not meeting deadlines. Suggestion: Trial Chair completes report as fast as possible (less than 3 weeks), then asks abstract writers to complete their sections in 2 weeks, but tell them they can ask for more time if necessary. This will just enable you to get things moving and actually completed in 9 weeks.
      1. Write the Chair’s Report and send it to the Dean of the College and the abstract writers within 3 weeks of the end of the trial
      2. Instruct abstract writers (THOROUGHLY!). It’s also good to send them examples of previous good academic or social abstracts as a guide. Be sure to check in with abstract writers a few days before the deadline and ask if they’re having any issues with the abstract. Also give them a link to Honor Council’s guidelines on picking pseudonyms for abstracts.
      3. Check in with the confronted/confronting parties about letters to the community, if applicable.
      4. Once the abstract is finished, send it to Abstract Committee.
      5. When Abstract Committee finishes with the abstract but before Council discusses it, send the abstract to confronted and confronting party for review. This version should not include the letters to the community.
      6. Honor Council must discuss and consent on the abstract and decide on a release date.
3. Check in with the confronted and confronting parties about how the resolutions have been carried out (as appropriate).
4. Send abstract to hc-allstudents@haverford.edu, dailydigest@haverford.edu, faculty@haverford.edu, and post on the Go! boards and Honor Council website.
   1. Take the abstract to the print center and order 100 copies to be distributed around campus. Put stacks in the DC, Zubrow, in the Campus Center near the mailboxes.
5. Hold two abstract discussions. Abstract discussions are normally led by an Honor Council Co-Chair. Student Outreach Committee is in charge of breadsticks (or other food) and advertising.