Opinion ID: 70832
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: CB's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment Claims

Text: CB argues that Driscoll lacked reasonable grounds to search him because no administrator observed him with drugs, no administrator observed him acting strangely, and the informant was unreliable. Whether the facts construed in favor of CB show that Driscoll had reasonable grounds to suspect the presence of banned substances is a question of law and review is de novo. See United States v. Harris, 928 F.2d 1113 (11th Cir.1991). We hold that the search of a student in the instant circumstances does not violate the Fourth Amendment, and therefore we need not consider issues of qualified immunity and of local government liability. In New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 342, 105 S.Ct. 733, 743, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985), the Supreme Court held that school officials need only reasonable grounds for suspecting that a search will turn up evidence that the student has violated either the law or school rules. Sufficient probability, not certainty, is the touchstone of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment. T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 346, 105 S.Ct. at 745 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). The tip in this case provided sufficient probability, viewed against the reasonable grounds standard, to justify the search here. A fellow student provided the information that CB carried too complex. See, e.g., Schaper v. City of Huntsville, 813 F.2d 709, 715 n. 7 (5th Cir.1987) (citations omitted). This reasoning applies with at least equal force in the school suspension context. Even if Driscoll was not wholly impartial, we conclude as a matter of law that Driscoll's involvement in the events in the office did not preclude her from acting as the decisionmaker. drugs with the intent of selling them. The tip was provided to administrators directly, rather than anonymously, and was thus more likely to be reliable because the student informant faced the possibility of disciplinary repercussions if the information was misleading. Cf. United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 583, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 2082, 29 L.Ed.2d 723 (1971) (plurality opinion) (stating common sense proposition that tip that places informant at risk of prosecution is entitled to greater credit). Many courts have approved reliance on tips from fellow students. E.g., S.C. v. State, 583 So.2d 188, 192 (Miss.1991) (noting that tips from students are less suspect than those from society in general). And while the tip did not include the identity of the student who observed the contraband firsthand, the Supreme Court has recognized that information from an anonymous source can help provide the reasonable suspicion necessary for a Terry stop. See Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 331, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 2416, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990). Administrators also received at least some corroboration when they noted that CB, who was reported by the informant to have the drugs in his big old coat, did in fact have such a coat in his possession when the search was initiated. See United States v. Gibson, 64 F.3d 617, 623 (11th Cir.1995) (holding that anonymous tip can be corroborated by verifying that present circumstances, rather than future acts, are as reported), petition for cert. filed, No. 95-8439 (Mar. 26, 1996). In the light of the circumstances, reasonable grounds to search existed; and CB's Fourth Amendment rights were not violated.
CB also argues that his procedural due process rights were violated because he was suspended without adequate notice or hearing. The District Court granted summary judgment on the merits of this claim. Again, only a rudimentary hearing is required for short-term suspensions. Goss, 419 U.S. at 581, 95 S.Ct. at 740. Here CB had two opportunities to discuss the issue with administrators before he was suspended, either one of which more than satisfied Goss. (CB was in fact represented by counsel at the second hearing.)4
CB claims his substantive due process rights were violated by the decision to suspend him and then to send him to an alternative school. The district court granted summary judgment on the merits of this claim. Our holding in McKinney, 20 F.3d at 1560-61, forecloses CB's substantive due process claim for his suspension and transfer. As discussed above, McKinney reminded us that executive acts warrant no substantive due process protection unless the right infringed is recognized by the Constitution as fundamental, which is to say that our democratic society and its inherent freedoms would be lost if that right were to be violated. Id. at 1561 (citing Harrah Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Martin, 440 U.S. 194, 198, 99 S.Ct. 4 CB also fails to set out a persuasive procedural due process claim based on the alleged vagueness of Rule 23 (possession of look-alike substances). See, e.g., Bethel Sch. Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675, 686, 106 S.Ct. 3159, 3166, 92 L.Ed.2d 549 (1986) (stating that school disciplinary rules need not be as detailed as a criminal code which imposes criminal sanctions). Rule 23 was sufficiently clear as not to deny CB the process he was due. 1062, 1064, 59 L.Ed.2d 248 (1979)). CB's suspension and transfer were both executive acts, see McKinney, 20 F.3d at 1557 n. 9, and neither abridged a fundamental right. Plyler, supra. Because the right to an education is state-created, that right can be restricted as long as adequate procedures are followed. McKinney, 20 F.3d at 1561.5 Thus, what the Supreme Court has identified as substantive due process was not offended by the suspension and transfer.