Glossary

From Respondent by R. E. Alexander · Appendix D (selections)

These definitions explain usage in this guide. The governing statute, rule, order, or institutional policy controls the meaning in a particular matter.

General information only — not legal advice. Favorable or unfavorable outcomes do not automatically prove fabrication or guilt.

Allegations and Evidence

Allegation: A claim about conduct. Its existence is not a finding that the conduct occurred.
Disputed allegation: An allegation someone contests. Dispute alone does not resolve its truth.
False allegation: A factually untrue allegation. Identify the specific assertion and evidence rather than inferring falsity from a favorable procedural outcome.
Deliberate fabrication: Knowingly creating or reporting an untrue account. It adds a knowledge or intent question that an inconsistency or mistake does not itself answer.
Not established: The required proposition was not proved under the applicable standard. This does not necessarily decide that the contrary proposition is true.
Procedural unfairness: A defect in how a matter was handled. Whether it violates an enforceable duty or warrants relief depends on the governing law, procedure, and significance of the defect. It is distinct from factual innocence or responsibility.
Corroboration: Information that supports a particular proposition. Repetition of one source is different from independent observation. Support for one detail need not prove an entire account.
Recollection: What a person remembers. Separate direct memory, information learned later, and inference; identify uncertainty and subsequent correction.
Source: The underlying statement, document, recording, or observation supporting a claim. A summary and an inference should remain distinguishable from the source.
Consent and incapacitation: Terms whose legal and policy definitions vary. Identify the applicable definition and relevant time rather than importing a familiar definition from another proceeding.

Campus Proceedings

Complainant and respondent: Labels for the people alleged to have experienced and engaged in the conduct, respectively. Neither label establishes credibility or responsibility.
Formal complaint: A defined initiating document in the formal Title IX framework. An informal report and a formal complaint do not necessarily trigger identical procedures.
Supportive measure: A category of nondisciplinary, nonpunitive assistance under the Title IX rule, subject to the definition’s limits. Read the measure’s actual effects; the label alone does not resolve compliance.
Emergency removal: A separate Title IX provision with a safety assessment and an opportunity to challenge removal. It is not a responsibility determination.
Administrative leave: A separate provision for a nonstudent employee respondent while the Title IX grievance process is pending. Other law and employment terms may affect leave, pay, and review.
No-policy-violation finding: A determination that the charged policy violation was not established, interpreted in light of the reasons given. Record whether it remains subject to appeal, was modified, or was reversed.
Appeal and remand: An appeal seeks authorized review. A remand sends an issue back for further proceedings; it does not necessarily resolve the merits. Record the authority, scope, and current status of each decision.
Informal resolution: A process governed by applicable eligibility rules and agreed terms. Withdrawal rights before an agreement and obligations after agreement require separate attention.

Criminal and Civil Proceedings

Investigation: Information gathering concerning possible wrongdoing. A criminal investigation is not a conviction, and a campus investigator does not exercise the same powers as police.
Declination: A prosecutor’s decision not to pursue charges at that time. Reasons and potential future action vary; the disposition alone does not establish a deliberate false report.
Acquittal: A criminal not-guilty result. It is distinct from a decision not to charge and does not necessarily establish that an allegation was fabricated.
Preponderance of the evidence: A burden commonly described as more likely true than not. Apply it to the propositions the governing rule requires; do not treat it as a license to guess.
Clear and convincing evidence: A higher civil evidentiary burden than preponderance. Its precise formulation and application depend on governing law.
Beyond a reasonable doubt: The burden for proving criminal guilt. It does not govern every step of a criminal investigation or automatically govern a campus or civil case.[R2]
Civil complaint and answer: A complaint pleads claims and requested relief. An answer responds under the court’s rules. Allegations in pleadings are not proof merely because they are filed.
Default: A failure to defend that can lead to adverse court action under the governing rules. Do not assume another proceeding excuses a required response.[R3]
Counterclaim: A claim against an opposing party. Some must be raised in the existing federal action if Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13’s conditions apply; others are permissive.[R6]
Discovery: Formal procedures for obtaining information in litigation, subject to scope limits, privilege, objections, and court orders. It differs from campus evidence review.[R5]
Summary judgment: A ruling under a legal standard concerning whether a genuine dispute of material fact requires trial. Grant, denial, and partial judgment have different consequences; The companion volume Respondent in Court, Chapter 2, explains them.
Settlement: An agreement resolving specified disputes on stated terms. It is not automatically an admission, exoneration, or resolution of every related proceeding.

Privacy and Protection

Confidentiality: A duty or arrangement limiting disclosure. It is not automatically an evidentiary privilege or a guarantee against a subpoena.
Attorney-client privilege: Protection for qualifying confidential communications seeking or providing legal advice. The underlying facts do not become privileged because they are told to a lawyer.[R9]
Work product: Qualified protection for specified litigation-preparation material. It differs from attorney-client privilege and does not attach to every private note.[R9]
Pseudonym: An assumed name. It does not by itself prevent recognition, authorize publication of restricted material, or establish a right to anonymous litigation.
Sealing and redaction: Court-controlled restrictions or removal of specified information from public filings. A sealed document, a confidential discovery document, and a public record can have different rules.[R8]

More worksheets and the full glossary context are in the full book.