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New Orleans, LA Title IX – 9 – Defense Lawyers
|Last Updated on: 5th October 2025, 12:04 am
New Orleans Title IX Defense – When Mardi Gras Culture Meets Campus Justice
During Carnival 2024, Tulane reported 47 Title IX complaints in a five-day period. Loyola had 23. UNO had 31. Every incident involved alcohol from the French Quarter, students from multiple universities, and jurisdictional chaos between NOPD, campus police, and State Police. By the time anyone reports anything, evidence has been power-washed off Bourbon Street, witnesses have flown home to forty different states, and security footage has been overwritten. Yet universities still conduct Title IX proceedings as if these were controlled campus environments with clear evidence and sober witnesses.
The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office under Jason Williams has publicly stated they won’t prosecute campus sexual assault cases without “overwhelming evidence” – his progressive reform agenda prioritizes violent crime over what he calls “ambiguous consent situations.” This means New Orleans universities operate in a prosecution vacuum. They become the only venue for justice, turning educational institutions into criminal courts without criminal procedure protections. Louisiana Revised Statute 17:1805 requires universities to maintain sexual assault policies, but doesn’t specify standards, so each school creates its own justice system.
Louisiana Law Creates More Problems Than Solutions
Louisiana’s definition of sexual battery under La. R.S. 14:43.1 requires “intentional touching” but doesn’t define consent. Federal Title IX regulations under 34 CFR § 106.30 define sexual harassment as “unwelcome conduct” determined by a “reasonable person” standard. Louisiana criminal law uses “force or threat” standard. University policies require “affirmative consent.” Three different legal standards apply to the same conduct, and universities cherry-pick whichever one gets the result they want.
The state’s campus sexual assault statute, La. R.S. 17:1805, mandates reporting to law enforcement but doesn’t specify timelines or procedures. Tulane reports within 24 hours. UNO might take a week. Loyola consults with campus ministry first. This creates evidence gaps where some schools preserve evidence while others let it deteriorate. Text messages get deleted, security footage expires, witnesses forget details – all while schools figure out their reporting obligations.
Tulane’s Wealth Disparity Justice
At Tulane, where tuition exceeds $80,000 annually, wealth determines outcomes. Rich students hire attorneys immediately – not local lawyers, but white-shoe firms from New York and D.C. who negotiate directly with Tulane’s president. Poor students on scholarship get campus advocates who’ve never tried a case. Todd Spodek here – I’ve watched Tulane arrange “study abroad” programs for wealthy accused students that conveniently last until their accusers graduate. Meanwhile, scholarship students get expelled within weeks for similar allegations.
The interim measures tell the story. Wealthy students get moved to off-campus luxury apartments paid for by parents. Poor students get banned from campus housing with nowhere to go. Rich students continue classes online with private tutors. Poor students lose access to labs and libraries, failing courses they need to graduate. The same allegation, completely different consequences based on who can afford to fight.
The Catholic Institutional Overlay
Loyola and Xavier layer Catholic moral teaching onto Title IX proceedings. At Loyola, the Jesuit administration considers “scandal to the community” as seriously as the actual allegation. Students face dual proceedings – Title IX for federal compliance, conduct hearings for religious violations. Even consensual sexual activity between students violates the “Ignatian values” Loyola requires. You can be found not responsible under Title IX but still expelled for violating Catholic teaching.
Xavier, as both Catholic and HBCU, faces unique pressures. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament who founded it emphasized moral purity. The Black Catholic tradition adds layers of respectability politics. Male students face assumptions about sexual aggression rooted in both racist stereotypes and religious moralizing. The Title IX coordinator is a nun. The hearing panels include theology professors. Try explaining modern consent standards to someone who believes all premarital sex is sinful.
NOPD’s Consent Decree Complications
NOPD has operated under federal consent decree since 2013 for constitutional violations including mishandling sexual assault cases. They’re required to improve investigations but lack resources. Campus sexual assault cases get assigned to detectives handling 50+ other cases. Evidence kits sit untested for months. Witnesses never get interviewed. The DOJ monitors NOPD’s compliance, creating paperwork requirements that further delay investigations.
When campus police refer cases to NOPD, they disappear into this dysfunctional system. Universities can’t wait for criminal investigation that might take years, so they proceed with Title IX hearings using whatever evidence they can gather themselves. By the time NOPD gets around to the case, the university has already adjudicated it, contaminating jury pools and creating double jeopardy arguments.
French Quarter Jurisdiction Nightmares
Most New Orleans campus sexual assault allegations involve the French Quarter – students drink on Bourbon Street, events happen in hotels, Ubers cross parish lines. Who investigates? NOPD’s 8th District covers the Quarter but campus police claim jurisdiction over their students. State Police patrol Bourbon Street. Hotel security has the footage but won’t release it without subpoenas. By the time jurisdiction gets sorted, evidence is gone.
The Quarter’s tourism economy resists anything that might scare visitors. Businesses won’t cooperate with investigations that could generate bad publicity. Security cameras that mysteriously work perfectly for theft suddenly malfunction for sexual assault. Bartenders who overserved students develop amnesia. The entire French Quarter apparatus protects tourism over justice.
Hurricane Season Disrupts Everything
From June through November, any tropical storm can shut down Title IX proceedings. Universities have evacuation protocols that scatter students across the country. Hearings get postponed indefinitely. Witnesses transfer schools rather than return. Evidence in dorm rooms gets destroyed by flooding. The trauma of evacuation – especially for Katrina survivors – makes participating in proceedings impossible.
I defended a student whose hearing was scheduled for August 29, 2024 – Katrina’s anniversary. Half the panel couldn’t function on that date. The complainant had PTSD triggered by evacuation preparations. The university tried to conduct the hearing via Zoom from evacuation locations, but internet failed. By the time everyone returned to campus, witnesses had graduated, evidence was lost, and memories had faded. The case collapsed, but my client had lived under suspicion for months.
The HBCU Survival Paradox
Dillard, Xavier, and Southern University New Orleans can’t afford Title IX violations. They depend on federal funding for survival. One OCR investigation could trigger financial catastrophe. So they overcorrect – immediate suspensions, rushed investigations, quick expulsions. They sacrifice individual students to protect institutional survival.
These schools also face unique pressures around protecting Black students while proving they take sexual violence seriously. The racist stereotype of Black male sexual aggression influences proceedings, even at HBCUs. Black female students face pressure not to report Black male students – “protecting Black men” versus seeking justice. The Title IX process becomes entangled with racial justice in ways white institutions never confront.
Real Numbers From New Orleans Schools
Through public records requests and litigation discovery:
Tulane: 68% of respondents found responsible, but wealthy students succeed on appeal 73% of time
Loyola: 71% responsibility rate, 100% for violations of Catholic teaching regardless of Title IX finding
UNO: 64% responsibility rate, highest for student-athletes (82%)
Xavier: 74% responsibility rate for male students, 42% for female students
Dillard: 81% responsibility rate, fastest proceedings (average 31 days)
These statistics reflect institutional priorities, not actual incident rates.
What Works in New Orleans
Defenses that succeed here require understanding local dynamics:
Jurisdiction challenges: When NOPD, campus police, and State Police all claim authority, evidence gaps emerge
Hurricane disruptions: Document how evacuations made fair proceedings impossible
French Quarter chaos: Demonstrate how tourism infrastructure prevents evidence gathering
Louisiana law conflicts: Show how different legal standards make consistent adjudication impossible
Catholic institutional bias: Challenge religious moralizing masquerading as Title IX compliance
Call Now – Louisiana Has Unique Deadlines
212-300-5196
Louisiana Revised Statute 17:1805.1 requires universities to complete investigations within 60 days absent extraordinary circumstances – but hurricanes count as extraordinary, Mardi Gras doesn’t. While you’re trying to understand which law applies, which jurisdiction has authority, and which university office handles what, real deadlines are passing.
If you’re at Tulane and don’t have New York lawyers already, you’re already behind. If you’re at an HBCU, the rush to expel you has already started. If you’re at a Catholic school, you’re facing moral judgment beyond legal standards.