Court of Appeals states UNC-Chapel Hill has to share sexual assault findings

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled that UNC-Chapel Hill has to provide the names of those affiliated with the university found guilty of sexual offenses. The court’s unanimous ruling disputed UNC-CH claim that records are prohibited to be released by officials because of federal law.

The Daily Tar Heel, WRAL, The Charlotte Observer and The Durham Herald-Sun sued UNC over declining to provide information from those responsible for rape and sexual assault cases claiming that the information was educational records which are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The original ruling from May 2017 sided with UNC-CH saying that federal law of protecting student data overrides state law which allows such information to be released in certain cases.

Following the case through the Court of Appeals, the new ruling given out on Tuesday says that federal law does not block The Daily Tar Heel from the information that it requested. The only thing that is prohibited is knowing the dates of the offenses.

UNC has been struggling to overcome backlash from students, publications and the public alike in its handling of sexual assault and rape cases.

This recent ruling from the Court of Appeals returns the case back to the original judge of the case from last May in 15 days for further ruling.