Opinion ID: 75772
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Most Analogous State Statute

Text: 8 This Court must first decide whether a personal injury claim, advocated by Appellant, or a request for judicial review under the Georgia APA, applied by the district court, is most analogous to requests for judicial review under the IDEA. In making this determination, `courts look to whether the scope of judicial proceedings available to a plaintiff under [each] state act is similar to the review available under [the IDEA]'. Livingston Sch. Dist. Nos. 4 & 1 v. Keenan, 82 F.3d 912, 915 (9th Cir.1996) (quoting Dep't of Educ. v. Carl D., 695 F.2d 1154, 1157 (9th Cir.1983)). 9 Both the Georgia APA and the IDEA provide for judicial review of agency determinations. 2 Under both statutes, the reviewing court acts in a quasi-appellate manner, scrutinizing the underlying proceedings for procedural regularity and substantive validity. See, e.g., Spiegler v. District of Columbia, 866 F.2d 461, 465-66 (D.C.Cir.1989); Adler v. Educ. Dep't, 760 F.2d 454, 458 (2d Cir.1985). Further, under both statutes, reviewing courts rely heavily on the administrative record. See Ga.Code Ann. § 50-13-19(g); 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2). Although the IDEA permits the reviewing court to accept additional evidence at the request of a party, this fact does not significantly distinguish the nature of the proceedings from appellate review of agency decisions because, in both cases, the primary evidence relied upon is the administrative record itself. See Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 205, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 3050, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982). 10 Additionally, both the Georgia APA and the IDEA mandate some level of deference to the findings of an agency's decision-maker. Under the Georgia APA, an agency's decision is scrutinized only for abuse of discretion. See Ga.Code Ann. § 50-13-19 (permitting reversal of agency decisions that are (1) made in excess of the agency's statutory authority; (2) based upon unlawful procedure; (3) affected by other error of law; (4) clearly erroneous on the whole record; or (5) arbitrary or capricious). Similarly, under the IDEA, a district court is required to respect a state hearing officer's findings when they are thoroughly and carefully made. See Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. at 206, 102 S.Ct. at 3050-51 (stating reviewing courts must give due weight to the administrative proceeding). The IDEA's provision that a reviewing court base its decision on the preponderance of the evidence is, therefore, no invitation to substitute [the court's] own notions of educational policy for those of the school authorities which they review. Id. 11 By contrast, an action for personal injury is an independent claim which does not involve review of administrative decisions. Thus, such an action does not involve either review of a record assembled in underlying proceedings or any level of deference to administrative findings. See, e.g., Livingston Sch. Dist., 82 F.3d at 916. A civil action under the IDEA challenging an administrative hearing officer's education decision after a due process hearing, therefore, is more analogous to judicial review of an administrative appeal than to causes of action for personal injury. As a result, the Georgia APA is the most analogous state statute. Unless inconsistent with the policies underlying the IDEA, therefore, the Georgia APA's 30-day limitations period should be applied to Appellant's cause of action. 12