Goss V. Lopez

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Throughout educational history, student discipline & rights have been a topic of discussion. In 1974, they became a national topic when a case on student disciplinary action stood before the U.S.
Supreme Court, Goss v. Lopez. With the case came two important questions that needed answers:

Are students entitled to due process if they're suspended from public schools for one to ten days (Education Law)?
If so, what process is due (Education Law)?
Those questions would become resolved in January of 1975.

COURT CASE HISTORY. In Columbus, Ohio, nine students from various public schools received a suspension for up to ten days for disruptive behavior (Britannica). Law 3313.66 allowed the school to take this disciplinary action. Claming the law violated their due process rights under the 14th Amendment, the students filed a
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(LII / Legal Information Institute). The students also asked to have their suspensions expunged from there academic record. (LII / Legal Information Institute). The respondent in the case was the director of Pupil Personnel, Norval Gross (Britannica). It was first heard by a federal district court made up of three judges. This court concurred that the law unconstitutional and granted the requested request for the suspensions to be expunged from their records. The school board appealed the case. It ended up being presented before the US Supreme Court on October 16th, 1974 (Britannica).

FINAL DECISION On January 22nd, 1975, The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Goss v. Lopez. In a 5-to-4 ruling (LII / Legal Information Institute), the Court, stated that the 14th Amendment, which "prohibits states from depriving persons of 'life, liberty or property without due process'" (Education Law), applied to