An Honor Code violation demonstrates a lapse in professional judgment and may have a serious adverse effect on a student’s professional career. Except as otherwise specified in III.A. through III. N., to be guilty of an Honor Code violation, a student must have engaged in the prohibited conduct purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently as these terms are defined in the Model Penal Code section 2.02. Under the Model Penal Code section 2.02, the terms purposely, knowingly, recklessly, and negligently have the following meanings:
Purposely: A person acts purposely with respect to a material element of an offense when:
(i) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or a result thereof, it is his conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result; and
(ii) if the element involves the attendant circumstances, he is aware of the existence of such circumstances or he believes or hopes that they exist.
Knowingly: A person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense when:
(i) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and
(ii) if the element involves a result of his conduct, he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause such a result.
Recklessly: A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor's situation.
Negligently: A person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offense when he should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor's failure to perceive it, considering the nature and purpose of his conduct and the circumstances known to him, involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.
It shall be a violation of the Honor Code to engage in any of the following:
- To use resource materials, or receive other assistance:
- in an exam other than as specifically authorized by the professor;
- in research or in other writing assignments when specifically prohibited by the professor; or
- in a competition, when specifically prohibited by the competition’s rules;
- To submit as one’s work the work of another in draft or final form;
- To make any material misrepresentation as to work toward satisfaction of the requirements for grade or credit in any activity for which credit is given;
- To discuss the contents of an exam:
- with anyone who has not yet taken the exam;
- with any other person in any place where a reasonable person should realize that the conversation could be heard by another student who has not yet taken the exam;
- To give or to receive any aid during an exam or fail to abide by exam time limitations;
- To engage in any conduct which the actor knows affords an unfair advantage to any student in an exam, research or clinical assignment, competition, or any activity for which academic credit is given;
- To knowingly violate rules provided by a professor or competition chairperson, whether or not an unfair advantage is gained;
- In use of the law school library, writing center, or career development office:
- to mark, mutilate, hide, or destroy materials;
- to remove materials without proper authorization;
- to deprive students of materials meant to be for the use of all students, such as an unreasonable refusal to reshelf or replace books, multimedia recordings, or other class or resource materials;
- To steal, damage, or deprive another student of his or her books, notes, computer, storage device, or other class-related materials;
- To knowingly damage or disrupt the school’s computers, systems, or networks;
- To make any material misrepresentation on a document submitted for employment, including, but not limited to, a résumé, a grade report, a cover letter, a recommendation, or a writing sample;
- To knowingly fail to adhere to the Honor Board’s conflict of interest provisions, or to the confidentiality imposed upon all participants in the proceedings described below;
- To knowingly file a false complaint;
- To fail to make a prompt complaint as required by section V(A).
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