Halimy Hall student update - 2nd day of suspension hearings pushes for restorative justice

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from by UMN SDS.

On the second day of the Halimy Hall suspension hearings there were three big takeaways.

Witnesses inside Halimy hall state they would like to see Halimy hall arrestees participate in restorative justice. When asked about restorative justice for the students, witnesses from inside Halimy Hall said they would be interested in seeing the students have a restorative justice option as opposed to further punitive punishment. This contrasts the university’s multiple denials of a restorative justice proposal by the legal team, in which they claim restorative justice is exclusively used for academic cases, refusing to consider the social and historical context behind this case and firmly placing it among cases of sexual misconduct in how it can be handled.

UMN pushes ridiculous restitution onto students without proof of students causing the supposed damage or receipts for replaced items

When the restitution charges were brought up during the trial on day 2, the UMN attorney was unable to prove that any of the students did any of the alleged property damage or provide receipts of spending. Currently, they are still trying to force the students to pay for unnecessary upgrades done to doors, security systems, and electrical systems within Halimy Hall. The University of Minnesota has no right to charge students for unnecessary upgrades they wish to do to Halimy Hall under the guise of paying back property damage, which they have no proof of the students committing.

Students and legal team now await outcome of hearings

After several months the Halimy Hall students have finished their student conduct hearings. Now they just have to wait for the panel to decide the outcome. We are expecting administration to give them the results by Friday evening, right before break. Throughout the entire hearing admin has maintained complete control over the process, and has objected to every measure of transparency the students and their legal team have suggested. They have arbitrarily chosen which rules they must abide by and which policies no longer apply. Keep an eye on our social media for updates regarding the hearing.

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