Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1961 · Administrative Law

Administrative LawDue ProcessStudent DisciplinePublic EducationFourteenth Amendmentprocedural due processpublic collegeexpulsion

Facts

The plaintiffs were students in good standing at Alabama State College, a tax-supported college, when the State Board of Education voted to expel them after receiving reports about student demonstrations. No formal charges were filed, the misconduct was never definitely specified, and the notice of expulsion referred only generally to "this problem of Alabama State College." The evidence showed that all of the expelled students participated in one courthouse lunch grill demonstration, while attendance by all plaintiffs at the other demonstrations was not affirmatively shown. The Board gave the students no notice or hearing before expelling them, even though the college's usual practice had been to confer with a student, indicate the reason for withdrawal, and allow the student to offer a defense.

Issue

Whether due process requires notice and some opportunity for hearing before students at a tax-supported college are expelled for misconduct. More specifically, the question was whether these students had a right to any notice or hearing at all before expulsion.

Rule

Whenever a governmental body acts so as to injure an individual, the Constitution requires that the act be consonant with due process of law, and the minimum procedural requirements depend on the circumstances and the interests involved. Before a student at a tax-supported college is expelled for misconduct, due process requires notice containing the specific charges and grounds that, if proven, would justify expulsion, and some opportunity to be heard. In misconduct cases of this type, due process does not require a full-dress judicial hearing, but it does require the rudiments of an adversary proceeding, including disclosure of the witnesses' identities and the facts to which they testify, and an opportunity for the student to present a defense and supporting testimony or affidavits.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Red River State College, a tax-supported school in Oklahoma City, permanently expels Maya Ortiz for allegedly organizing vandalism in a dormitory lobby. She receives an email stating only that she is expelled for conduct harmful to campus order and is told to leave by the weekend.

If Maya sues on due process grounds, which argument is strongest?

Explanation. The majority held that before a student at a tax-supported college is expelled for misconduct, due process requires notice containing the specific charges and grounds that, if proven, would justify expulsion, plus some opportunity to be heard. It is not enough to say public college attendance is merely a privilege. Good faith alone does not eliminate the need for basic procedural fairness.