Opinion ID: 461208
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: privacy interest in academic paper1

Text: 52 The majority has found, contrary to the district court and the record, that Alinovi had no subjective interest in the privacy of the contents of her paper after she submitted it to her professor at Worcester State College. 2 After securing permission from Chris' mother to study Chris and after assuring her that confidentiality would be protected, Alinovi wrote her graduate school assignment using only Chris' first name. In order to preserve the confidentiality of other persons referred to in her paper, including the principal and herself, Alinovi deleted the names of all school personnel and did not identify the name of the school or the town in which the school is located. Although the majority of the court found that, when Alinovi gave the paper to the professor she expected that the paper would be discussed in class ..., the record contains no basis for this assertion. Rather, Alinovi testified that she expected that the paper might add to her professor's knowledge in the field of mental health, and that the professor might take the knowledge of this case, add it to her knowledge of other cases, and use the accumulated knowledge for discussion in future courses. There is also nothing in the record that contradicts Alinovi's testimony that she submitted the paper to her professor at Worcester State College with the expectation that it would not be given to Midland Street School authorities, the only people who would be able to identify the writer or individuals referred to in the paper. After grading it, her college professor returned the paper to Alinovi. 53 The majority stresses that Alinovi did not tell her professor that the paper could not be copied or shared with others. In light of the fact that federal law protects the privacy of academic work, this was not necessary. Students' privacy expectations are protected by the Family Education and Privacy Rights Act (the Buckley Amendment to the General Education Provisions Act) which provides that federal funds shall be withdrawn if a school or university reveals records containing identifying data, including academic work, to persons outside the university without a student's consent. See 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g (1982); Act of Dec. 31, 1974, Pub.L. No. 93-568, 1974 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 6779. Thus, Alinovi's belief that her professor would keep her paper private was entirely consistent with the normal expectations of students and teachers and in keeping with university policy in clinical educational settings. See, e.g., Harvard Law School Advisor 19-22 (Aug. 30, 1984); Cooperative Legal Education Handbook, Northeastern University School of Law 16-17 (Dec. 1984). I must, therefore, disagree with my colleagues that Alinovi had no subjective privacy interest in her academic paper after she submitted it to her college professor. 54
55 In order for an individual's subjective expectation of privacy to be protected by the Constitution, the expectation must be one that is recognized and permitted by society. Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. at 740, 99 S.Ct. at 2580; Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 361, 88 S.Ct. 507, 516, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967) (Harlan, J., concurring). The majority appears to find that even if Alinovi did have a subjective expectation of privacy in her paper before she brought it to Midland school, society will not recognize her privacy interest because the paper contained information that Midland school authorities believed might be relevant in developing and implementing Chris' educational program. In finding relevance to an employer to be the test for abrogating an individual's privacy interest, I believe the majority casts far too wide a net: innumerable personal writings might be thought to be relevant, at least in part, to an employer's work. For instance, Alinovi kept a diary spanning the period that Chris was a student in her classroom. Under the majority's relevance analysis, the principal could have demanded that Alinovi submit her journal for inspection if she had acknowledged that it contained thoughts about her experiences with Chris. Such a ruling is tantamount to telling employees that they privately criticize any aspect of their work life at their peril. 56 Perhaps the majority intends to restrict their no-privacy rule to material submitted to professors. Diaries and letters may still be safe but today's decision will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on free expression and critical inquiry in the classroom, especially in clinical programs and education courses that integrate work experience with classroom learning. Under the court's rule, the Midland school authorities would be free to discipline Alinovi, as they intimated they might do in this case, because her employer deemed the content of [her academic paper] ... to reflect very poor professional judgement. If today's ruling continues unimpaired, teachers and professors would be well-advised to caution students that their work may be subject to scrutiny by persons other than those directly involved in the educational process regardless of whether the work contains highly personal, revelatory, inflammatory, or simply untactful material. 57 Even apart from the fact that I think the majority holding is inconsistent with federal law and accepted academic practice, I believe the ruling today impermissibly burdens first amendment freedoms. The Supreme Court has repeatedly stressed the importance of preserving an atmosphere of free expression and critical inquiry in our country's schools and universities: The vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools. Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U.S. 479, 487, 81 S.Ct. 247, 251, 5 L.Ed.2d 231 (1960). 58 A university ... is a kind of continuing Socratic conversation on the highest level ... and the thing that you must do to the uttermost possible limits is to guarantee ... [women and] men the freedom to think and to express themselves. 59 Wieman v. Updegraff, 344 U.S. 183, 197-98, 73 S.Ct. 215, 221-22, 97 L.Ed. 216 (1952) (Frankfurter, J., concurring). See also Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U.S. 589, 603, 87 S.Ct. 675, 17 L.Ed.2d 629 (1967); Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 249-50, 77 S.Ct. 1203, 1211-12, 1 L.Ed.2d 1311 (1957). 60 This circuit, too, has had a long-standing tradition of being a vigorous proponent of academic freedom. We have held that [there is] a zone of First Amendment protection for the educational process itself, which ... must include ... students and teachers [and] ... their host institutions. Cuesnongle v. Ramos, 713 F.2d 881, 884 (1st Cir.1983). See also Winkes v. Brown University, 747 F.2d 792, 797 (1st Cir.1984) (Academic freedom, although not a specifically enumerated constitutional right, has long been viewed as a special concern of the First Amendment.); Beitzell v. Jeffrey, 643 F.2d 870, 875 (1st Cir.1981) (vigorous exchange of ideas is basic function of university); Keefe v. Geanakos, 418 F.2d 359, 362 (1st Cir.1969) (warning of dangers of chilling teacher's speech). 61 Because of Alinovi's dual role as student and teacher, the court's ruling has a double impact. By stripping Alinovi of her privacy rights in her paper on its submission to her professor at college, the majority holding will discourage students from engaging in critical inquiry. The implications of the majority decision for teachers' rights are no less disturbing. Most boards of education require or encourage teachers to take continuing education courses to stay abreast of developments in their field or expand their horizons on the theory that continued study will contribute to a vital and stimulating classroom performance. It is both natural and desirable that teachers focus on their teaching experiences in continuing education courses. I find it regrettable that the court lays down a rule that will stymie teachers' efforts to understand and improve their work. Teachers [as well as] ... students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die. Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. at 250, 77 S.Ct. at 1211. 62 In addition to disagreeing with the majority's view that Alinovi had no legitimate privacy interest in an academic paper because it might be helpful to her employer, I do not believe that school authorities should be given unbridled discretion to compel production of personal papers without relation to existing need. No one has contended at trial or on appeal that Alinovi's paper contained any material information on Chris that was not already known to the evaluation team. Nonetheless, under the majority's test school authorities can compel production of material known to be merely cumulative even if the paper contains other highly personal observations. 63 The Supreme Court has repeatedly curtailed the power of investigating bodies to determine on their own the reasonableness of searches which encroach upon individuals' privacy interests. See Marshall v. Barlows, 436 U.S. at 323, 98 S.Ct. at 1825 (prohibiting warrantless regulatory searches which place unbridled discretion in hands of executive and administrative officers as to when to search for OSHA violations and whom to search); United States v. Katz, 389 U.S. at 357-59, 88 S.Ct. at 514-515 (denying right of police to determine reasonableness of search without judicial approval); Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 77 S.Ct. 1203, 1 L.Ed.2d 1311 (1963) (restricting scope of investigatory powers of state legislative committee); Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 205, 77 S.Ct. 1173, 1188, 1 L.Ed.2d 1273 (1957) (restricting scope of federal legislative investigation). I do not believe that school authorities should be treated differently than other investigatory bodies and given unilateral authority to decide when papers prepared in nonemployment contexts are relevant and subject to seizure or examination and whether their need outweighs an individual's competing privacy interests. 64