Purpose
The Silver Phoenix Society operates multiple events throughout the year which makes the process of providing a fair system for sanctioning those found to be in violation of the Code of Conduct both more important and more complex. Banning an individual from one event, removes them from that event, but banning them from all SPS events removes them from this community as a whole.[a]
To this end, The Determination Committee shall be charged with adjudicating the responsibility of individuals accused of inappropriate behavior as well as determining appropriate sanctions and responses for those behaviors; particularly sanctions that span multiple events such as long term (or indefinite) bans.
This system is in no way a replacement for legal action, and a victim is always welcome to contact law enforcement. The Determination Committee will provide any relevant information which they discover for use in any legal proceedings. The purpose of this committee is to determine the course of action within the organization.
Response At Event
When an situation occurs at an event, the Chair and their designees shall have full authority to remove any person from the event whom they feel poses a threat to the safety, security, or experience[b][c][d][e] of any and all patrons, staff members, vendors, performers, or persons otherwise affiliated with the event.
A complaint may then be filed with the Determination Committee to consider further action such as long term bans or other sanctions. The Determination Committee does not function within a given event.
Powers
This body shall have the authority to recommend the following to the Board of Trustees, which may be approved with or without amendment with a majority vote:
Source of Complaints
A complaint to the Determination Committee may come from one of three sources: The Mediation and Consent Team, Security, or from any individual.
Mediation and Consent Team
Each event shall have a Mediation and Consent Team which shall consist of a minimum of one person plus one additional person for each 800 estimated total attendees[f][g][h]. Upon receiving a complaint of a sexual nature as specified by the complaintant, the staff or security person who received the complaint will immediately contact the Mediation and Consent Team who will speak to the victim and take a statement if appropriate.
If possible, the MCT member will try to find ways to mediate the situation or educate the offender to the satisfaction of the victim. It is entirely at the victim’s discretion whether or not the MCT member should speak to the offender. The victim may also choose if they wish the matter referred to the Determination Committee for possible punishment.
If the victim chooses to refer the matter to the Determination Committee, the MCT member shall collect all available information and evidence to include in the complaint.
Security and Staff
Security or other staff may submit a complaint requesting sanctions against an individual for inappropriate behavior at an event. Staff and security may not submit anonymous complaints if their complaint is submitted within their role at the event. However, any staff member who has been personally victimized may submit an anonymous complaint like any other individual.
Individual
Any Member may submit a complaint requesting that an individual face sanctions up to and including banning with supporting evidence.
Self Initiated Investigation
In the event that an SPS member feels that inaccurate accusations exist about them but have not been filed as a complaint, the member may request an investigation into the accusations. The Determination Committee will investigate as normal, including recommending sanctions if the accusations are found to be valid and warranting sanction. Either way, a report will be generated as normal and the respondent may utilize the report in any way they see fit.
Structure
The Determination Committee shall be comprised of no less than 7 members selected by the Board of Trustees. At least 3 of these members must have no other organizational role within SPS including staff roles at the Assistant Department Head level or higher.[i]
Members, called Adjudicators, are appointed for a renewable term of two years and cannot be removed except by an investigation of the Determination Committee. Adjudicators shall be appointed in order to determine seniority for certain purposes.
Each year, the Adjudicators shall elect a Chief Adjudicator.
The names of all Adjudicators shall be publically available.
Process
When an accusation is brought to the Determination Committee, the accuser shall be given the option to request disqualification of up to two Adjudicators for possible conflicts of interest. The respondent may also request up to two Adjudicators for possible conflicts of interest. If there are more than 7 Adjudicators on the Committee, then the limit of two is increased by 1 for every two additional Adjudicators (rounded up).
If there are at least three Adjudicators remaining without possible conflicts, then the process shall proceed as normal.
The Chief Adjudicator shall randomly select from among the unchallenged Adjudicators three to serve on a Review Board.
The Review Board shall elect a Board Chair who will coordinate schedules, interviews, etc.
Anonymous Accusations
Anonymity can be very important in certain situations to protect victims, but it can also make it very difficult for the accused to mount an effective defense. For this reason, anonymous accusations and statements shall only be admissible if there is a clear danger of retaliation.
In the event of an anonymous accusation, the Review Board shall review the evidence under the strictest confidentiality and make a determination if it will be accepted. Two members of the Review Board must agree for there be considered a clear danger.
In the event that it is determined that there is not clear danger, the accuser shall be given the option to either make a non-anonymous accusation or to drop the accusation. If the accusation is dropped, confidentiality shall be preserved, and a record shall be kept of the anonymous accusation in the event that future accusations against the same individual are raised.
The accuser may appeal to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. If three members of the Executive Committee concur that a clear danger exists, then it shall be returned to the Review Board who shall continue as if they had found a clear danger. If the Executive Committee does not find a clear danger, then they will maintain the confidentiality of the accuser.
Form of an Accusation
An accusation must indicate whom is being accused, the nature of the inappropriate behavior, and the specific result that is sought by the accusation. The accusation should also include a statement by the accuser of their version of the situation as well as any additional witnesses who should be contacted. Witness statements may be included, but the Review Board should confirm these statements with the witnesses themselves if possible.
Evidence
Once an accusation is received and an investigation begun, the Review Board shall collect statements, either in writing, recorded video or audio, or in live interviews either in person or remotely. For live interviews, all three Review Board members must be present.
Review Board members may seek additional information from witnesses if they feel it is necessary to reach a proper decision.
Decision
All decisions of a Review Board must be by majority vote. First the Review Board must determine if the respondent is responsible or not responsible for the accusations. Then, the Board shall set a sanction for those things which the accused as been found responsible.
In determining responsibility, the Review Board shall create a report (Summary Report) which is agreed to by a majority of the Review Board which summarizes appropriate reasoning for the decision while making all efforts to preserve the anonymity of witnesses where possible because this report shall be available to any who request it. This report shall be generated whether the respondent is found responsible or not.
The Review Board shall also generate a confidential report which includes a summary of all relevant details in the case including all witness statements and other evidence.
Unless there is a request for an appeal, the confidential report shall be forwarded to the Board of Trustees to act upon its recommendations. The Board of Trustees shall maintain the confidentiality of all confidential portions of the report.
The Summary Report shall be available to any Voting Member as well as to the respondent and the accuser, and they may distribute it as they see fit.
Appeal
In the event that either the accuser or the respondent feels that the Review Board did not handle the case properly, they may appeal to the full Determination Committee. The confidential report shall be distributed to the entire Determination Committee, which shall review the evidence and choose to either accept the original Summary Report or create a new Summary Report which must be approved by a majority of the Determination Committee. After this time, the full committee shall determine if they will accept the same sanctions or alter them.
Prior to this process, the accuser may indicate any Adjudicators which they believe have a conflict of interest or who should not be privy to the Confidential Report due to personal involvement. They may remove one Adjudicator without question. Any others must be approved by the Chief Adjudicator, unless the Chief Adjudicator is indicated to have a conflict, in which case the senior Adjudicator who has not been indicated shall serve as Chief Adjudicator for this purpose.
Violations at Other Events and Off Site
Accusations of sexual misconduct, violence, and other behavior which might indicate that an individual is a danger to our community may be filed with the Determination Committee even if they did not occur at an SPS event.[j]
Such accusations should include the full legal name of the accused allowing for proper research to be done on the background of the accused.
The Determination Committee should consider the relevance of the accusation to the environment of the SPS events, how long ago the alleged offense occurred, and the likelihood that the accused might commit a similar offense at an SPS event.
[a]Honestly, this whole purpose is moot until a "code of conduct" is created, approved, and implemented. Until that is in place, this committee and how you define it are kind of pointless.
[b]My biggest issue at present is that SPS is NOT a legal body. In a court of law I'm not sure the things we say or do have legal weight. What happens if a banned person attempts to attend the event? Is it trespassing? Will the event space/hotel agree its trespassing and call the police? Do we? Also, if there are charges of rape or assault and so-forth, the cops legally need to be informed or we could open ourselves up to charges of obstruction of justice at the least.
[c]Also, needing to know the relevant local laws re: what defines an assault & severity of the offense and whether or not reporting of a known crime is required.
[d]When we run an event, it is our space and we can control who enters. Yes, it is trespassing and we can have the police eject or detain someone who violates it.
The purpose of this process is to determine what should happen. Every event ejects and bans people for various trangressions, but most simply leave it to the convention chair or maybe a leadership team. Almost none have any form of investigation process or due process, leaving victims unprotected and the accused without rights. We are aiming to serve everyone better.
[e]In the case of the above charges though, at what point to the police have to notified legally?
[f]This number is, unfortunately, much too small. I'd recommend a minimum of 5 publicly listed members, plus an additional (publicly listed) person for each 200 attendees.
These are events where everyone knows everyone; the Consent Team needs to be large and diverse. Otherwise, decisions will be biased, and staff members will rapidly burn out.
[g]There should likely be 2-3 minimum people on the MCT, considering that some events may have <800 estimated attendees, thus leaving only one team member on-site to handle complaints.
[h]Also: document how the Mediation and Consent Team is chosen. (Are members appointed by the Board of Trustees, the Determination Committe, etc? What's the duration of a term?)
[i]How long is a term of service on the Determination Committee?
[j]These accusations should be required to contain a full legal name, allowing for the person in question to be ran through databases to find offenses or name changes, if necessary, to be able to properly fulfill the goal of protecting people. This full legal name should be confidential.