Elizabeth J. Upton
86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 655
Public backlash over zero tolerance policies that funnel public school students to jail through the “school to prison pipeline” has unveiled the systemic issues associated with discriminatory application and the detrimental effects of exclusionary discipline. What remains unaddressed and largely ignored is the lack of procedural safeguards afforded to students who face suspension or expulsion from school. In 1975, the Supreme Court laid out minimum protections for students facing short-term suspensions under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Nonetheless, school administrators have significantly increased the use of exclusionary discipline in the last forty years, while the protections for students have not kept pace. As schools throw more and more students out of school, courts have dismissed these students’ cases, almost blindly deferring to the school districts. This Note argues that it is time for the courts to more closely review school disciplinary procedures and articulate a clearer, higher standard for the process due before a student can be denied public education. Courts should require that schools provide comprehensive notice to include the specifics of the alleged rule violations and affirmatively inform students and their guardians of their procedural and representative rights.
