Thesis on "Basic Due Process for Students"

Thesis 12 pages (3825 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Due Process for Students in Public Schools

The Due Process Clause is found in two places in the Constitution. First, the Fifth Amendment addresses basic due process rights. The Fifth Amendment states that, "No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" (U.S. Const. amend. V). The Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause applied only to federal actions. The Fourteenth Amendment expanded the Due Process Clause to state actions. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" (U.S. Const. amend. XIV). These two clauses make it clear that Americans are not to be deprived of Due Process of Law, however there has been some question about what due process students, who are generally minors, who are entitled to in the public school setting.

According to Doug Linder:

The most obvious requirement of the Due Process Clause if that states afford certain procedures ("due process") before depriving individuals of certain interests ("life, liberty, or property"). Although it is probably the case that the framers used the phrase "life, liberty, or property" to be a shorthand for important interests, the Supreme Court adopted a more literal interpretation and requires individuals to show that the interest in question is either their life, their liberty, or their property -- if the interest doesn't fall into one of those three boxes, no matter how important it is, it doesn't qualify for constitutional protection (2009).

Furthermore, Linder believes that the Due Process Clause has a dual purpose. Its first purpose is "to produce, through the use of fair procedures, more accurate results: to prevent the wrongful deprivation of interests. The other goal is to make people feel that the government has treated them fairly by, say, listening to their side of the story (Linder, 2009).

In fact, the Due Process Clause is basically the Constitution's guarantee of fairness, which is why it is an important component of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection guarantee. "Fairness can, in various cases, have many components: notice, an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time in a meaningful way, a decision supported by substantial evidence, etc. In general, the more important the individual right in question, the more process that must be afforded" (Linder, 2009). One of the reasons that due process in the school setting is such a difficult issue is that what process is due depends so heavily upon the services involved. Are educational rights the type of property rights that give rise to due process concerns? Is suspension from school akin to a deprivation of liberty? All of these issues impact the due process considerations found in school law cases.

Legal precedents

Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969).

Although Tinker did not deal with students' right to due process, it is an important case to examine when examining due process rights because it discusses the constitutional rights of students in public schools. The case involved students wearing black armbands to protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The school determined that it would suspend any students wearing these protest armbands. In determining that the school had exceeded its authority, the Court had to consider whether students retained their constitutional rights in the school setting. In fact, the Court held that, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate" (393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969).

Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975).

In Goss, appellant administrators of the Columbus, Ohio, Public School System (CPSS) challenged the judgment of the trial court, which declared that appellee students were denied due process of law when they were temporarily suspended from their high schools without a hearing either prior to suspension or within a reasonable time thereafter. Under Ohio law, children between the ages of 6 and 21 were entitled to a free education. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3313.66 allowed principals to suspend or expel students for misconduct. Expelled students were given an opportunity to appeal their expulsions, but suspended students had no similar protection. In fact, neither the CPSS nor any of the individual high schools involved in the dispute had any written guidelines regarding what actions subjected a student to suspension. Each of the students had been suspended without a hearing, and filed an action under 42 U.S.C.S. § 1983, alleging that the CPSS suspension system violated their due process rights. Many of the activities leading the suspension occurred in front of the administrator who ordered the suspension. Moreover, while the students were not given a hearing, some of them were offered the chance to attend a conference to discuss the student's future.

The fact that there was no constitutional right to an education at public expense did not mean that a public education was not a protected property right. The Constitution does not create property rights, but protects property rights created by other areas of the law. The Court determined that under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3313.48 and 2213.64, the appellees had a state-law created entitlement to a public education. Furthermore, the Court determined that, having given appellees this right to a free education, the state could not withdraw the right on the grounds of misconduct without affording the students some type of due process. In fact, the Court concluded that "the authority possessed by the State to prescribe and enforce standards of conducts in its schools although concededly very broad, must be exercised consistently with constitutional safeguards" (419 U.S. 565, 574). The Court also concluded that suspensions could impact the students' liberty. The suspensions could impact the students' reputations among their peers, with their teachers, and interfere with later employment and educational opportunities. As a result, the suspension could work a deprivation of liberty.

The fact that a suspension of less than 10 days was not a significant deprivation of property or life was unimportant. The Due Process Clause protects people from any unlawful deprivation of liberty or property. Furthermore, the Court determined that a 10-day suspension was significant and could not be imposed without adherence to due process, while recognizing that a suspension is was less significant than an expulsion. "Neither the property interest in educational benefits temporarily denied nor the liberty interest in reputation, which is also implicated, is so insubstantial that suspensions may constitutionally be imposed by any procedure the school chooses, no matter how arbitrary" (419 U.S. 565, 576).

Having determined that due process applied, the Court then had to determine what process was due. The Court concluded that "At the very minimum…students facing suspension and the consequent interference with a protected property interest must be given some kind of notice and afforded some kind of hearing" (419 U.S. 565, 579). Furthermore, the type of notice and the nature of the hearing must take into account both the school and the student's interests. The Court found that there was a substantial risk of error in disciplinary proceedings, and that school districts had to take steps to avoid error. However, the Court also recognized the schools had to have the ability to discipline students and impose order. "Events calling for discipline are frequent occurrences and sometimes require immediate, effective action. Suspension is considered not only to be a necessary tool to maintain order but a valuable educational device" (419 U.S. 565, 580). As a result, the Court refused to impose elaborate hearing requirements, but did state that a student should have an opportunity to hear the accusations against him and to tell his side of the story:

Students facing temporary suspension have interests qualifying for protection of the Due Process Clause, and due process requires, in connection with a suspension of 10 days or less, that the student be given oral or written notice of the charges against him and, if he denies them, an explanation of the evidence the authorities have and an opportunity to present his side of the story. The Clause requires at least these rudimentary precautions against unfair or mistaken findings of misconduct and arbitrary exclusion from school (419 U.S. 565, 581).

Most courts have followed the Goss' courts example, and have determined that when a student is denied access to education, they are deprived of a protected property right and must receive due process. For example, in Gorman v. University of Rhode Island, 837 F.2d 7 (1st Cir. 1988), a student subjected to a long-term suspension had a right to due process. 837 F.2d 7, 12. Furthermore, even students who can still access an education, but are but in a different setting, like an alternative school, have a right to due process. In Cole v. Newton Special Municipal Separate School… READ MORE

How to Reference "Basic Due Process for Students" Thesis in a Bibliography

Related Thesis Papers:

Faculty Student Interaction in Online Learning Environment Literature Review

Student engagement is important when teaching any class. It is especially significant when faculty teach in the online learning environment where students are not only isolated from their instructor but… read more

Literature Review 15 pages (3854 words) Sources: 15 Style: APA Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Technology for Students With Disabilities Research Paper

Technology for Students With Disabilities

In our modern society, there is integration of technology into education programs as well as practices in for the purpose of facilitating learning to students… read more

Research Paper 11 pages (3214 words) Sources: 9 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Students With Reading Disabilities Term Paper

Disabilities

Students With Reading Disabilities

Learning disabilities (LD) are a group of varying disorders that have a negative impact on learning. They may affect one's ability to speak, listen, think,… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (2217 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Students With Visual Impairments Inclusion or Traditional School for the Blind Term Paper

Students With Visual Impairment

The words "inclusion," "full inclusion" and "inclusive education" narrowly defined by educators of students with severe disabilities to adopt the philosophy that all students with disabilities,… read more

Term Paper 13 pages (4694 words) Sources: 23 Style: APA Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Students With Disabilities Who Did Not Complete Dissertation

Students With Disabilities Who Did Not Complete High School

Richard Wieringo

This case study explores the experiences of students with disabilities who have dropped out of high school, so as… read more

Dissertation 60 pages (17241 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>