University of Virginia Library

Fifth Amendment

(7) The Committee must make
its decision solely on the basis of
facts argued before it, must confine
its decision to the specific violation
alleged, and must provide a written
finding of guilt or innocence.
Extra-record evidence may not be
used in arriving at the decision.

(8) Appellate procedures must
be provided, and for that purpose a
record of the hearing must be
preserved.

(9) The student may elect to
take the Fifth Amendment at any
time during the course of his trial.
No inference may be drawn if the
students make that election.

Although the Committee
need not follow the rigid
formulations often used for
testing the propriety of actions
taken by courts of agencies of
the State government, the
value we place on accuracy in
fact-finding before
punishment, on fairness, and
on freedom for the individual,
applies as strongly to the
University student as to any
citizen in the community. To
the extent that the
Committee's activities are
functionally governmental, our
social values demand that
standards be imposed upon the
discretion of the Committee
and the scope of their
administration in order to
protect justice and liberty in
the University community.