student rights
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Student Rights. Common Law, Due Process, and Statutory Protection. Student Rights v State Rights. Education is not a fundamental right Students do have 1 st and 14 th Amendment rights Balancing responsibility Public schools respect the rights of the student - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Student Rights
Common Law, Due Process, and Statutory Protection
Student Rights v State Rights
Education is not a fundamental right Students do have 1st and 14th
Amendment rights Balancing responsibility
Public schools respect the rights of the student
Students respect their obligations to the state
Common Law
Reduction in some personal freedoms Obligations on the part of both the
teacher and the student Reasonableness is the common law
watch word of the teacher-student relationship
Reasonableness
Two aspects : the reach of the school’s authority, and the nature and degree of the discipline
Conduct that is: Proper, rational and fair
Not: conduct that is immoderate, excessive, and unsuitable to the conditions
In loco parentis
In the place of the parent BUT school official’s rights are not co-
extensive with those of the parent
Wiemerslage v. Maine
Constitutional Due process
State can deprive an individual of a life, liberty, or property so long as the individual is given due process
14th Amendment – no state … shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property w/out due process of law.
What Process is Due?
Depends on the circumstances General touchstones are:
notice hearing results and findings open to inspection
Due Process SUBSTANTIVE Valid objective of the
state Means must be
reasonable
Does the state have a valid objective to take away someone’s right to life, liberty or property?
PROCEDURAL Proper notice Opportunity to be heard Fair hearing
Did the state provide proper notice of the deprivation of life, liberty or property and did the person have an opportunity to be heard, and was the hearing conducted fairly?
Substantive Due Process State has no power to deprive a person of life,
liberty, or property by an action that has no reasonable relationship to any proper governmental purpose
State must have a valid objective and the means used must be reasonably calculated to meet the objective
Meyer v Nebraska 1923 liberty interest Dixon v Alabama 1961 property interest Tinker v Des Moines 1969 property interest Goss v Lopez 1975 property and liberty interest
Constitutional Due Process
Dunn v Fairfield 7th Circuit - 1998
Corporal Punishment
8th Amendment issue – Liberty interest
Ingraham v Wright SC 1977
Procedural Due Process
Dixon v. Alabama 5th Circuit 1961
Goss v Lopez SC 1975
McClain v Lafayette 5th Circuit 1982
You be the Judge An 11 year old 6th grader brought a 2 CD’s to school
with a song created and performed by the student and a friend. The song was titled “Gonna kill Mrs. Cox’s baby” Mrs. Cox was the student’s science teacher and was pregnant at the time. On the disc the lyrics were unintelligible, he was asked to write them down. He admitted he wrote them, and burned the songs onto the CDs. He was suspended for 2 weeks and at hearing was expelled for the remainder of the year. The parents argued that the evidence was arbitrary and capricious, and unreasonable and that the discipline was too severe.
Was it too severe? Was the behavior egregious enough? Were his rights violated?
You be the Judge!
A high school has a zero tolerance drug policy. A small amount of marijuana was found in a student’s car on campus. Student was expelled 3 days from the end of fall semester for the remainder of the year, including summer school. He received no credit for fall or spring classes. The longstanding (20 years) district practice was to expel the student caught with drugs. The school board upheld the discipline. The student filed for a judicial review. The trial court found that the expulsion must end on the last day of school and not include summer school; and that school board’s action was arbitrary and capricious. The School Board appealed and the Appeal Court agreed that the last day of school did not extend to summer school and that the district’s actions were arbitrary and capricious.
Sexual Harassment
Title IX of Educational Amendments, 1982
Quid pro quo Hostile environment Deliberate indifference standard
Sexual Harassment Cases
Teacher to Student Franklin v. Gwinett
SC 1992
Gebster v Lago VistaSC 1998
Student to Student Davis v. Monroe
SC 1999
Baynard v Malone 4th Circuit 2001
Important Concepts
Damages are available under Title IX School official must have actual notice
of circumstances and acted with deliberate indifference
Liability is limited to situations in which school has substantial control over the harasser and the context
Harassment must be so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive
Child Abuse
Reporting of suspected abuse is mandatory
Case: Arkansas v. Caldwell 1992