Opinion ID: 625406
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether the Ban from School Grounds Violates a Liberty Interest Protected by the Due Process Clause

Text: Hannemann contends that the school district violated his right to procedural due process by banning him from school property without notice and an opportunity to be heard. Before the district court, Hannemann argued that his status as a student entitled him to this process. The district court rejected this argument, finding it to be undisputed that Derek was not a student at Southern Door County High School when the ban was instituted because expulsion transforms a person's status from student to general member of the public. Although the expulsion order had been vacated, Hannemann had opted not to reenroll. Thus, when the ban was enacted, Hannemann was not a student of Southern Door County High School, but rather of Fox Valley Lutheran High School. The district court framed the issue as whether a school district can constitutionally ban a non-student from its property until further notice without a hearing, and the court ruled that the school district has this authority. On appeal, Hannemann abandons his student-status argument and instead argues that he was deprived of a protected interest as a general member of the public. Hannemann is not consistent or precise in alleging what protected interest has been violated by the ban. He argues that a school in a small community serves as more than a place of learning, [2] that a ban from school grounds is especially burdensome to parents, that other members of the community enter school property, and that a ban that labels a person as a danger to children imposes a grievous loss. When a plaintiff asserts a procedural due process claim, we engage in a two-fold analysis. First, we must determine whether the plaintiff was deprived of a protected interest, either in liberty or property. McMahon v. Kindlarski, 512 F.3d 983, 987 (7th Cir.2008). Second, if the plaintiff has established a protected interest, we must determine what type of process is due. Id. at 987-88. Protected liberty interests `may arise from two sourcesthe Due Process Clause itself and the laws of the States.' Ky. Dep't of Corr. v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 460, 109 S.Ct. 1904, 104 L.Ed.2d 506 (1989) (quoting Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 466, 103 S.Ct. 864, 74 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983)). As the Supreme Court has stated, the range of interests protected by procedural due process is not infinite. Bd. of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 569-70, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). Before we can evaluate whether Hannemann has established a protected interest, we must decide whether to construe the duration of the ban as definite (as the school district argues), indefinite (as the district court determined), or lifelong (as Hannemann argues). The duration of the ban influences the severity of the school district's action and thus may influence our analysis as to whether the ban violates a protected interest. It is undisputed that the letter from the school district's attorney informing Hannemann of the ban does not state when the ban will be lifted. When asked at a deposition whether Hannemann would be permitted to attend events that are open to the public after he turns twenty-one, Superintendent Innis testified, we certainly would be open to revisiting it if a request was made, you know, to attend activities or, you know, be on the campus. The district court concluded that there was no evidence that the district intended for the ban to be lifelong and that such an interpretation would not be reasonable. We agree with the district court's analysis, and we construe the ban as indefinite but not necessarily permanent. Although Hannemann claims that the ban is lifelong, he never asked school officials how long the ban would last for or whether there was anything he could do to have it lifted. Similarly, Hannemann never asked school officials to lift the ban and never promised to refrain from the conduct that prompted the ban. Further, Innis's testimony suggests that school officials are open to reconsideration. Yet we must reject defendants' assertion that the ban was neither indefinite nor unconditional, as defendants have not pointed to any evidence of an end date for the ban or conditions for Hannemann to meet for the ban to be lifted. We therefore conclude, as the district court did, that the ban from school property was indefinite but not permanent. [3]