Constitutional Right to Attend Law School Forum

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tlsadmin3

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Constitutional Right to Attend Law School

Post by tlsadmin3 » Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:59 pm

A former law student in Texas is suing for being dismissed after receiving a 1.98 GPA. The former student argues that his ability to pursue his chosen career and consequently, his liberty, was affected.

The case is now in the state Supreme Court, and Justices are struggling to grapple with the constitutional claim particularly given the student's ability to apply to another law school or waited two years after dismissal to return to Texas Southern.

Do you think the student has a point, or should this case be dismissed? Sound off below.

nixy

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Re: Constitutional Right to Attend Law School

Post by nixy » Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:12 pm

Pretty sure the Texas SC isn't struggling to grapple with anything about this case.

commonlaw

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Re: Constitutional Right to Attend Law School

Post by commonlaw » Mon Jan 25, 2021 3:49 am

https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2020/11 ... dismissal/
The legal question in the case is whether a student can claim his due process rights were violated by a school for dismissing him falling below minimum academic standards, argued the Texas Southern University defendants in a brief to the Texas Supreme Court. The high court found in a previous case that a student who was dismissed from school because of a disciplinary matter did have due process protections. The university argued this reasoning shouldn’t apply to academic dismissals.

[....]

The law school also claimed that it gave Villarreal due process through multiple chances to challenge his grades, the brief said.
The Supreme Court held in Goss v. Lopez that if a State extends a right to education to a certain person, that State cannot withdraw that right from a single person on grounds of misconduct absent fundamentally fair procedures to determine whether the misconduct has occurred. I assume this is why the Texas Supreme Court found that there was a valid claim for the misconduct claim. Assuming the reasoning applies to academic dismissals, I think the law school has a good argument that it afforded the plaintiff due process because it had a clear procedure for challenging grades, and the article doesn't suggest (I didn't read the petition) that the school applied their procedure inconsistently or arbitrarily. Perhaps there's a colorable claim if the school wasn't forthcoming with the facts such that the student could challenge the grades in times, as the student claims.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Constitutional Right to Attend Law School

Post by CanadianWolf » Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:47 pm

No one can offer a reasonable response without reading the briefs in this case.

There appears to be an allegation of cheating among other students in the plaintiff's class or classes that affected his/her grades presumably because others involved in the cheating received higher grades and affected the curve.

However, the school asserts that the student was given an opportunity to challenge his or her grades.

Again, without reading the briefs from all interested parties, it is difficult to offer an opinion as to whether or not the case should proceed or be summarily dismissed.

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