_Lawsuits Against Schools or School Officials_
Disagreements between parents or students and school officials about
disciplinary measures usually can be resolved informally. Occasionally,
however, a school's decisions and activities relating to disciplinary
matters are the subject of lawsuits by parents or students against
administrators, teachers, and school systems. For these reasons, it is
advisable that school districts obtain adequate insurance coverage for
themselves and for _all_ school personnel for liability arising from
disciplinary actions.
Suits may be brought in Federal or State court; typically, they are
based on a claim that a student's constitutional or statutory rights
have been violated. Frequently, these suits will seek to revoke the
school district's imposition of some disciplinary measure, for
example, by ordering the reinstatement of a student who has been
expelled or suspended. Suits may also attempt to recover money damages
from the school district or the employee involved, or both, however,
court awards of money damages are extremely rare. Moreover, although
there can be no guarantee of a given result in any particular case,
courts in recent years have tended to discourage such litigation.
In general, disciplinary measures imposed reasonably and in accordance
with established legal requirements will be upheld by the courts. As a
rule, Federal judges will not substitute their interpretations of
school rules or regulations for those of local school authorities or
otherwise second-guess reasonable decisions by school officials.[25]
In addition, school officials are entitled to a qualified good faith
immunity from personal liability for damages for having violated a
student's Federal constitutional or civil rights.[26] When this
immunity applies, it shields school officials from any personal
liability for money damages. Thus, as a general matter, personal
liability is very rare, because officials should not be held
personally liable unless their actions are clearly unlawful,
unreasonable, or arbitrary.
When a court does award damages, the award may be "compensatory" or
"punitive." Compensatory damages are awarded to compensate the student
for injuries actually suffered as a result of the violation of his or
her rights and cannot be based upon the abstract "value" or
"importance" of the constitutional rights in question.[27] The burden
is on the student to prove that he suffered actual injury as a result
of the deprivation. Thus, a student who is suspended, but not under
the required procedures, will not be entitled to compensation if he
would have been suspended had a proper hearing been held. If the
student cannot prove that the failure to hold a hearing itself caused
him some compensable harm, then the student is entitled to no more
than nominal damages, such as $1.00.[28] "Punitive damages" are
awarded to punish the perpetrator of the injury. Normally, punitive
damages are awarded only when the conduct in question is malicious,
unusually reckless, or otherwise reprehensible.
Parents and students can also claim that actions by a school or school
officials have violated State law. For example, it can be asserted
that a teacher "assaulted" a student in violation of a State criminal
law. The procedures and standards in actions involving such violations
are determined by each State. Some States provide a qualified immunity
from tort liability under standards similar to the "good faith"
immunity in Federal civil rights actions. Other States provide
absolute immunity under their law for actions taken in the course of a
school official's duties.
_Nondiscrimination in Enforcement of Discipline_
Federal law applicable to programs or activities receiving Federal
financial assistance prohibits school officials who are administering
discipline from discriminating against students on the basis of race,
color, national origin, or sex. Schools should therefore administer
their discipline policies even-handedly, without regard to such
considerations. Thus, as a general matter, students with similar
disciplinary records who violate the same rule in the same way should
be treated similarly. For example, if male and female students with no
prior record of misbehavior are caught together smoking marijuana, it
would not, in the absence of other relevant factors, be advisable for
the school to suspend the male for 10 days while imposing only an
afternoon detention on the female. Such divergent penalties for the
same offense may be appropriate, however, if, for example, the student
who received the harsher punishment had a history of misconduct or
committed other infractions after this first confrontation with school
authorities.
School officials should also be aware of and adhere to the special
rules and procedures for the disciplining of handicapped students
under the Education of the Handicapped Act, 20 USC Sec. 1400-20, and
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 USC Sec. 794.
(For legal citations, see reference section.)
_RESOURCES_
_Specific Drugs and Their Effects_