Appeals court: UNC must turn over sex assault records

University officials argued that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects student educational records, prevented the disclosure of information about sexual misconduct investigations by the university's various student conduct groups.

Hugh Stevens, an attorney for the media coalition, said the ruling was a significant one for interpreting the limits of the federal privacy law.

"FERPA by and large closes off public access to educational records as they are pretty broadly defined in the law," said Stevens, of the law firm Stevens, Martin, Vaughn & Tadych. "This is an unusual situation in which there is a very narrow exception that allows and, we believe, requires the university to release this important information where someone has been found culpable of these very serious offenses."

The appeals judges sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings. Stevens said that, although the university can petition the state Supreme Court, the unanimous decision by the Court of Appeals will make it more difficult to get heard.

Vice Chancellor for University Communications Joel Curran said UNC-Chapel Hill is disappointed by the ruling, saying administrators believe it could hinder efforts to increase reporting of assaults.

"Releasing the names of those found responsible in sexual assault or misconduct cases could lead to disclosures about the names of survivors and witnesses who filed reports expecting a confidential process," Curran said in a statement. "That change could have a chilling effect on survivors’ decisions to file reports and witnesses’ willingness to participate, jeopardizing years of work by the University to encourage more reporting under the Title IX process."

No decision has been made on a possible appeal, Curran said.

"The length and thoroughness is what makes it so important," Stevens said. "It's what some lawyers would call a real 'belt-and-suspenders' opinion."