Source: http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/229/567/577347/
Timestamp: 2017-09-19 13:31:58
Document Index: 477953250

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 49', '§ 49', '§ 49', '§ 49', '§ 3', '§ 2720', '§ 12', '§ 49', '§ 49']

Dustin W. Seal, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Allen Morgan, Superintendent, Knox County School (99-5090/5600); Knox County Board of Education (99-5600),defendants-appellants,vicki Dunaway, Principal, Powell High School, et al., Defendants, 229 F.3d 567 (6th Cir. 2000) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Sixth Circuit › 2000 › Dustin W. Seal, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Allen Morgan, Superintendent, Knox County School (99-5090/560...
Dustin W. Seal, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Allen Morgan, Superintendent, Knox County School (99-5090/5600); Knox County Board of Education (99-5600),defendants-appellants,vicki Dunaway, Principal, Powell High School, et al., Defendants, 229 F.3d 567 (6th Cir. 2000)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - 229 F.3d 567 (6th Cir. 2000)
Argued: January 26, 2000Decided and Filed: October 6, 2000
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. No. 97-00267--James H. Jarvis, District Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] [Copyrighted Material Omitted]
Generally, Tennessee law delegates to its local boards of education broad authority to formulate rules for student conduct and to prescribe appropriate remedies for the violation of those rules. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-4012(a). Before the 1996-97 school year, however, the Tennessee legislature directed each of its local school boards to develop and adopt, and to file annually with the state commissioner of education, written policies and procedures that would "impose swift, certain and severe disciplinary sanctions on any student" who, among other things, "brings a . . . dangerous weapon" onto school property, or " [p]ossesses a dangerous weapon" on school property. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-4216(a) (2). Specifically, the legislature encouraged " [e]ach local and county board of education . . . to include within such policies and procedures a zero tolerance policy toward any student who engages in such misconduct." Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-4216(b).
There is no abstract federal constitutional right to process for process's sake. See Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 250 (1983) (noting that " [p]rocess is not an end in itself."). Rather, the Fourteenth Amendment provides that one may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. State law determines what constitutes "property" for due process purposes. See Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577 (1972). It is undisputed that Seal enjoyed a property interest in his public high school education under Tennessee law. See Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975) (concluding that, in the absence of an emergency, public high school students cannot be suspended without the opportunity for a hearing). Tennessee not only provides its citizens with the right to a free public education, but requires them to attend school through the age of eighteen. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-3001.
Due process has two components. The first, procedural due process (often summarized as "notice and an opportunity to be heard"), is a right to a fair procedure or set of procedures before one can be deprived of property by the state. Even when it is clear that one is entitled to due process, "the question remains what process is due." Goss, 419 U.S. at 577 (citation omitted). The answer to the question of what process is due "depend [s] on appropriate accommodation of the competing interests involved." Id. at 579. In the context of disciplining public school students, the student's interest is "to avoid unfair or mistaken exclusion from the educational process, with all of its unfortunate consequences." Id. Schools, of course, have an unquestionably powerful interest in maintaining the safety of their campuses and preserving their ability to pursue their educational mission. See id. at 580 ("Some modicum of discipline and order is essential if the educational function is to be performed. Events calling for discipline are frequent occurrences and sometimes require immediate, effective action.").
The Due Process Clause provides "heightened protection against government interference with certain fundamental rights and liberty interests." Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 720 (1997). Government actions that burden the exercise of those fundamental rights or liberty interests are subject to strict scrutiny, and will be upheld only when they are narrowly tailored to a compelling governmental interest. See United States v. Brandon, 158 F.3d 947, 956 (6th Cir. 1998). The list of fundamental rights and liberty interests--which includes the rights to marry, to have children, to direct the educationand upbringing of one's children, to marital privacy, to use contraception, to bodily integrity, to terminate one's pregnancy, and possibly the right to refuse unwanted lifesaving medical treatment, see Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 720 (citing cases)--however, is short, and the Supreme Court has expressed very little interest in expanding it. See Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 721 (" [W]e have always been reluctant to expand the concept of substantive due process because guideposts for responsible decisionmaking in this unchartered area are scarce and open-ended.") (citation, internal quotation marks, and brackets omitted). In fact, the Supreme Court has held explicitly that the right to attend public school is not a fundamental right for the purposes of due process analysis. See San Antonio Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 33-37 (1973); see also Smith ex rel. Smith v. Severn, 129 F.3d 419, 429 (7th Cir. 1997) (rejecting due process and equal protection challenges to a school suspension, noting that " [t]he question of whether a public education is a fundamental right is not a novel one.").
The Supreme Court has also recognized the uniquely destructive potential of overextending substantive due process protection. See Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 720 (observing that extending substantive due process protection to an asserted right or liberty interest "place [s] the matter outside the arena of public debate and legislative action," and reasoning that "the utmost care" must therefore be exercised before breaking new ground, "lest the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause be subtly transformed into the policy preferences of this Court."). Indeed, the Court has specifically cautioned that " [j]udicial interposition in the operation of the public school system of the Nation raises problems requiring care and restraint," and that " [b]y and large, public education in our nation is committed to the control of state and local authorities." Goss, 419 U.S. at 578 (quoting Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97, 104 (1968)); see also Dunn v. Fairfield Community High Sch. Dist. No. 225, 158 F.3d 962, 966 (7th Cir. 1998) (expressing concern about the prospect of allowing the due process clause to "transform [] the federal courts into an appellate arm of the schools throughout the country").
Government actions that do not affect fundamental rights or liberty interests and do not involve suspect classifications will be upheld if it they are rationally related to a legitimate state interest. See Vacco v. Quill, 521 U.S. 793 (1997) (applying the rational basis standard of review to uphold New York's statutes outlawing assisted suicide, which neither infringe fundamental rights nor involve suspect classifications). In the context of school discipline, a substantive due process claim will succeed only in the "rare case" when there is "no 'rational relationship between the punishment and the offense.'" Rosa R. v. Connelly, 889 F.2d 435, 439 (2d Cir. 1989) (concluding that substantive due process did not require a student to be credited with "time served" while the student was out of school awaiting expulsion proceedings that were postponed at the student's request) (quoting Brewer v. Austin Indep. Sch. Dist., 779 F.2d 260, 264 (5th Cir. 1985)); see also Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 326 (1975) ("It is not the role of the federal courts to set aside decisions of school administrators which the court may view as lacking a basis in wisdom or compassion.").
That said, suspending or expelling a student for weapons possession, even if the student did not knowingly possess any weapon, would not be rationally related to any legitimate state interest. No student can use a weapon to injure another person, to disrupt school operations, or, for that matter, any other purpose if the student is totally unaware of its presence. Indeed, the entire concept of possession--in the sense of possession for which the state canlegitimately prescribe and mete out punishment--ordinarily implies knowing or conscious possession. See Wayne R. LaFave & Austin R. Scott, Jr., Substantive Criminal Law § 3.2, at 279 (1986 & Supp. 2000) (noting that " [f]or legal purposes other than criminal law--e.g., the law of finders--one may possess something without knowing of its existence, but possession in a criminal statute is usually construed to mean conscious possession") (footnotes omitted); see also United States v. Lewis, 701 F.2d 972, 973 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (Bork, J.) (observing that in order to withstand a motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of constructive possession of an illegal firearm, the government must introduce sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude "that the possession was 'knowing'") (citation omitted); United States v. Sawyer, 294 F.2d 24, 29 (4th Cir. 1961) (noting, in a prosecution for unlawful possession of inventory for liquor bootlegging, that "possession, when charged as a crime, must be conscious"); State v. Rice, 374 A.2d 128, 132 (Conn. 1976) (concluding, in a prosecution for unlawful carrying of a firearm in a motor vehicle, that constitutional due process requires the government to prove the defendant's knowing possession of the firearm); State v. Labato, 80 A.2d 617, 622 (N.J. 1951) (noting in a criminal prosecution for possession of illegal lottery tickets, that the state legislature could legitimately abrogate the common law requirement of scienter, or evil intent, and impose criminal liability on persons who did not know that their possession of the tickets was illegal, but could not abrogate the requirement that the persons intentionally possessed the tickets).
A student who knowingly possesses a weapon and is caught with it can, of course, be lying when he or she claims not to have known of its existence. Simply because a student may lie about what he knew, however, does not mean that it is unnecessary to address the question of what he knew before meting out punishment. The Board, for its part, freely concedes that "the record does not reflect what the Board did or did not consider with respect to [Seal's] knowledge," but argues that " [i]n the absence of findings of fact [by the Board], it ought not be concluded that the Board failed to consider [Seal's] knowledge."
In the case before us, we must remember that it was the Board, not Seal, that moved for summary judgment. As the non-moving party, Seal was entitled to have all reasonable inferences drawn in his favor. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). The absence of any evidence about what the Board concluded regarding Seal's knowledge is exactly why the Board is not entitled to summary judgment. In this regard, we disagree with the dissent's characterization that "Seal admittedly knew that the knife had been placed in his car on October 31, 1996 for use as a weapon" (Dissenting Op. at __) and that "Seal's attorney conceded during oral argument that Seal had no reason to believe the knife had been removed from his car." (Dissenting Op. at __). What Seal's attorney said was that Seal did not specifically see anyone pick the knife up off the floor of the car and remove it.Seal himself testified that he assumed that when Pritchert left Seal's car, Pritchert took his knife with him.
The district court, however, did more than deny the Board's motion for summary judgment. By ordering that the case "proceed to trial by jury . . . only to determine the amount of damages to be awarded" to Seal, the district court effectively entered summary judgment against the Board on the issue of liability. It did this even though Seal had not moved for summary judgment. In appropriate circumstances, we acknowledge that a district court may enter summary judgment against the moving party in the absence of a cross-motion. See, e.g., Rogers v. Management Tech., Inc., 123 F.3d 34, 38 (1st Cir. 1997) (explaining that " [t]he major limitation on this rule is that 'the losing party' must be 'on notice that she had to come forward with all of her evidence.'") (citation omitted); Martinson v. Massachusetts Bay Ins. Co., 947 F. Supp. 124, 127 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) (entering summary judgment in favor of the non-moving defendant and against the plaintiffs, who had moved for summary judgment); see also 10A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2720, at 346-53 (3d ed. 1998 & Supp. 2000).
On remand, the district court could, as an exercise of its discretion, permit discovery and allow the Board to renew its motion for summary judgment, supplemented by appropriate affidavits or other evidence. See, e.g., Whitford v. Boglino, 63 F.3d 527, 530 (7th Cir. 1995) (noting that a district court has the discretion to entertain a successive or renewed summary judgment motion, and that doing so is particularly appropriate when the factual record upon which summary judgment is sought has been expanded). The district court's other option would be to conduct a trial on the issues of liability and damages. At trial, the determination of whether the Board's action was rationally related to a legitimate state interest is one of law and would be made by the court. The questions of what the Board did, and why, would be questions of fact for the jury. See Sameric Corp. v. City of Philadelphia, 142 F.3d 582, 591 (3d Cir. 1998) (noting that the question of whether a governmental action is rationally related to a legitimate state interest is properly decided by the court, although questions regarding the state officials' motivation, if the subject of a genuine dispute of fact, are for the jury).
The doctrine of qualified immunity generally shields government officials from civil liability for performing discretionary functions "insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Bloch v. Ribar, 156 F.3d 673, 678 (6th Cir. 1998) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)); see also Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341 (1986) ("As the qualified immunity defense has evolved, it provides ample protection to all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law."). In determining whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity, " [t]he contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right." Daughenbaugh v. Tiffin, 150 F.3d 594, 602-03 (6th Cir. 1998) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
The decision to expel a student from school is a weighty one, carrying with it serious consequences for the student. See Goss, 419 U.S. at 576 (" [E]ducation is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments, and the total exclusion from the educational process for more than a trivial period . . . is a serious event in the life of the suspended child.") (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We understand full well that the decision not to expel a potentially dangerous student also carries very serious potential consequences for other students and teachers. Nevertheless, the Board may not absolve itself of its obligation, legal and moral, to determine whether students intentionally committed the acts for which their expulsions are sought by hiding behind a Zero Tolerance Policy that purports to make the students' knowledge a non-issue. We are also not impressed by the Board's argument that if it did not apply its Zero Tolerance Policy ruthlessly, and without regard for whether students accused of possessing a forbidden object knowingly possessed the object, this would send an inconsistent message to its students. Consistency is not a substitute for rationality.
As the majority acknowledges, the right to attend a public school is not a fundamental right for purposes of a due process analysis. A school's disciplinary decision will therefore survive a constitutional substantive due process challenge if it is rationally related to a legitimate government purpose. See Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 728 (1997). Furthermore, as the majority notes, the Supreme Court has specifically cautioned that " [j]udicial interposition in the operation of the public school system of the Nation raises problems requiring care and restraint," and that " [b]y and large, public education in our nation is committed to the control of state and local authorities." Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 578 (1975) (quotation omitted). Thus,
First of all, the Board's decision was rational because the zero tolerance policy does not contain an express scienter requirement. By holding that " [s]uspending or expelling a student for possessing a weapon, even if that student did not knowingly possess the weapon, would not be rationally related to any state interest," the majority has improperly substituted its interpretation of the regulation for the School Board's. As Wood indicates, however, the Board's construction of its regulations is entitled to deference. See id.
Indeed, the Board implemented the zero tolerance policy in recognition of its statutory duty to provide safe schools. The Tennessee Constitution empowers the General Assembly to "provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools." Tenn. Const. art. XI, § 12. The General Assembly's authority concerning public education is in turn delegated to local boards of education which are vested with the power to dismiss students when the progress or efficiency of the schools makes such action necessary. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-203(a) (8). Tennessee also delegates broad authority to its local boards of education to formulate a code for student conduct and to prescribe remedies for the violation of those rules. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-4012(a).
The Board's decision is also rational because there is ample proof of scienter here. There is no question that the knife was in Seal's car when it was parked on the PHS parking lot on November 1, 1996. Seal admitted to the Board, and his attorney conceded at oral argument, that he knew the knife was in the car a few days prior to its discovery. He acquiesced to its presence in the car at that time. Seal also knew on October 31, 1996, that Pritchert intended to use the knife if threatened by his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend. Seal's attorney conceded during oral argument that Seal had no reason to believe the knife had been removed from the car4 . Seal also admitted in his confession that he knew the knife had been in the car for protection because he and Pritchert felt "uneasy." It was certainly plausible that the knife would be needed for protection at PHS on November 1, 1996, as well since the conflict that made them feel uneasy involved a fellow PHS student.
The majority argues that " [n]o student can use a weapon to injure another person, to disrupt school operations, or, for that matter, any other purpose if the student is totally unaware of its presence." (Maj. Op. at 12.) Aside from the fact that the majority is again improperly substituting its assessments for those of the Board's, I disagree with this proposition. Even if the student who brought the weapon onto school property was unaware of its presence, another student could find the weapon and use it to cause injury. For example, even if the Board believed that Seal did not know the weapon was in the car on November 1, 1996, Pritchert knew it was there and presumably would have used it to injure another student had he felt threatened.