Sample Legal Brief

1. Citation: Goss v. Lopez, No. 73-898, SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 419 U.S. 565; 95 S. Ct. 729; 42 L. Ed. 2d 725; 1975 U.S. LEXIS 23, October 16, 1974, Argued, January 22, 1975

2. Facts: Students in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools brought this suit. The students claimed that their constitutional right to due process had been violated when they were suspended temporarily without a hearing prior to their suspensions. The Ohio Code provides for free education for all students between the ages of six and twenty one. Principals may suspend students for misconduct for up to ten days or expel them. In such cases, the school officials must notify parents of the suspension or expulsion within twenty four hours and include a notice of the reasons. Suspended students may appeal to the board of education. The suspensions of the ten students, who brought this action, occurred during a period of widespread unrest in the Columbus public schools.

3. Issue: Whether students may be suspended for ten days or less without due process of law.

4. Procedural History: The district court held that due process applies when students are suspended from school for ten days or less.

5. Holding: Suspensions of ten days or less are not de minimis. Due process is required before school officials can suspend students.

6. Reasoning: Under Ohio law, the plaintiffs had a right to public education; therefore, school officials must accord them due process before depriving them of protected interests. Schools have broad authority to establish and enforce standards of conduct; however, such authority is subject to constitutional limitations. Students have a property interest under the Fourteenth Amendment to an education. The court reasoned that “the State is constrained to recognize a student’s legitimate entitlement to a public education as a property interest which is protected by the Due Process Clause and which may not be taken away for misconduct without adherence to the minimum procedures required by that Clause.” The Due Process Clause also protects liberty interests to a good name and reputation from arbitrary action by the state. Short suspensions are less intrusive on students’ rights than are expulsions; however, exclusion from the educational system for ten days is not de minimis.

In order to protect property and liberty interests, courts cannot permit school systems to impose suspensions in any way they deem appropriate. If due process applies, what process is due? Due process requires notice and a hearing prior to suspension for ten days or less. A hearing consists in giving the student “an opportunity to explain his/her version of the facts.”

The court stopped short of requiring more extensive due process protections—right to counsel, confronting and cross examining witnesses, and compulsory process for witnesses—in suspensions of ten days or less. The court recognized that requiring extensive due process protections in short-term suspensions would overwhelm the resources of the schools. Providing students and their parents with notice and an informal hearing to tell their version of the incident “will provide a meaningful hedge against erroneous action.” The court further noted that more extensive due process requirements are required in long-term suspensions.

7. Significance: Goss established that due process is required before students may be suspended for ten days or less. The nature of the due process required will depend upon the severity of the consequences for the students. In general, suspensions, of ten days or less, require notice and an opportunity to be heard. Longer suspensions usually require a formal hearing with the opportunity to present witness, the opportunity to subpoena witness, the opportunity to confront witnesses, and the right to counsel.

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