Members of the Judicial Board, from left to right, top to bottom: Evvy Archibald ’16 (Chair), Katie Schmitz ’16 (Chair), Rebecca Forman ’15, Orla O’Sullivan ’16, Justin Fishman ’16, Ben Morris ’15, Sophie Bucci ’17, Michaela Adams ’17, Elaine Andersen ’16, Tanner Hanson ’16.
Conflicts are an inevitable part of living in a community governed by an Honor Principle. Sometimes resolution to these conflicts can be accomplished through informal communication or formalized mediation through Honor Council. The Judicial Board (J-Board) is another mechanism at your disposal for resolving conflicts, especially if you want the other party to be formally sanctioned or if you are uncomfortable pursuing mediation. In cases of sexual assault, you may pursue an Honor Case through J-Board’s counterpart, the Sexual Misconduct Board (SMB). Both J-Board and the SMB are entirely internal processes, and choosing to use them or not in no way impacts your right to external legal resolutions (such as lawyers or the police).
J-Board is a board comprised of 12 students. We hear cases alleging violations of college policy and violations of the Honor Principle, ranging from AOD violations to academic misconduct to roommate disputes. School policy violations are not necessarily honor violations, and vice versa. The SMB handles only cases alleging sexual misconduct, which “includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, and any other form of dishonorable conduct of a sexual nature” (Judicial Board Code, Section 10A http://www.reed.edu/academic/gbook/comm_pol/honor_prin.html). It is composed of the 12 student J-Board and 6 staff members from around the college. Fundamentally, both J-Board and the SMB are fact-finding bodies, looking to determine whether or not a violation of honor or policy has occurred. We are not a preventative, policing body. J-Board does not seek out violations of honor or policy to investigate, but rather adjudicates those cases brought to us.
Like everything else at Reed, the Honor Process aims to come to the solution that preserves our community’s sense of safety and justice. Sanctioning Honor Cases, therefore, involves a consideration of both restorative and preventative measures, which boards seek to balance in a way that protects the community and restores harm that has occurred. Because neither J-Board nor the SMB sanction based on precedent, we are able to take into consideration the specific context of each case and the desires of participants, without being bound by the decisions of past boards.
An Honor Case is the official process for having disciplinary action taken against a student, but we recognize that it’s sometimes a trying and difficult experience. One of the most common concerns we hear is that being part of an Honor Case binds you to confidentiality. This confidentiality only covers the case itself though. You can still talk about the fact that you are a participant in a case, and you can always ALWAYS discuss the events that led to an Honor Case being brought.
There are a lot of ins and outs of J-Board and the Honor Process, but we hope that doesn’t make us unapproachable. If the process still seems inscrutable, Honor Council is a wonderful resource (with office hours!). And one thing about J-board members is that we like to talk about how we do what we do, and we’re pretty friendly as well. If you’ve got questions, comments, concerns or suggestions about how J-board works, feel free to contact one of us. We’ll be happy to chat.