Goss V Lopez Case Brief Summary

In Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975), nine students were given 10-day suspensions from school without an opportunity for any hearings. The students then decided to challenge the principals’ actions, and the court found that the student’s rights had been violated. The court decided that students facing temporary suspension from a school have property and liberty interest that qualify for protection under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This case is similar to the case at hand because it involves the assessment of student’s rights to due process during the expulsion process. With the Goss decision in mind, it can be concluded that the expelled Howard students also have constitutional rights that protect their right to due …show more content…
Zaccari, 669 F.3d 1295 (2012), Barnes was expelled from Valdosta State University without proper due process after the president expelled him for campaigning against the University’s project proposal for a parking garage. The court concluded that the student’s enrollment in an educational institution was a remnant of property interest, which is protected by the Constitution; therefore, this interest was subject to procedural due process. The court also concluded that the University’s president violated the student’s right to procedural due process because the student was required to receive some type of notice and a hearing before he could be deemed expelled from the University. As with Barnes, the expelled members of the HUSA student body were entitled to their enrollment at an educational institution; therefore, in order to validly revoke their enrollment, the University needed to offer the students due process protections during the expulsion process. Since the University’s president did not follow the proper procedures for expulsion listed in the student handbook after he expelled students for organizing and participating in organized demonstrations against his decisions, he violated their rights to procedural due