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School Discipline Regulations Face U. S. Court Test

School Discipline Regulations Face U. S. Court Test image
Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
March
Year
1970
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

A lawsuit which may have wide-ranging implications has been filed against the Ann Arbor Public Schools in United States District Court in Detroit. The suit charges that the indefinite suspension of a Hurón High sophomore on Feb. 19 for non-attendance of class has violated the provisions of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It was filed by Willie Davis on behalf of his son, Vernon Davis, 15. The lawsuit requests the trict Court to issue a temporary order restraining the Ann Arbor School District from suspending the youth, and after a speedy hearing, requests a permanent injunction enjoining the school district from preventing the student in any way from attending regular classes at Huron High. School Supt. W. Scott Westerman Jr., one of the defendants named in the suit, said this morning the significance of the lawsuit "appears to be that the authority of the school district to develop its own discipline policies and procedures for youth is being challenged. The basic question seems to be whether disciplinary policies and practices for youth must be measured against constitutional rights as described in the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution." Also named defendants in the suit are Ann Arbor Board of Education President Harold J. Lockett, Huron High Principal Paul K. Meyers, and Huron Assistant Principal Albert Gallup. Specifically, the suit alleges that Davis' indefinite suspension was "without any semblance of a fair hearing of the type required by procéss of law," and that the youth has been "deprived of his liberty and property . . . without due process of law," contrary to the 14th Amendment. Attorney for the plaintiff iü George C.Stewart of the Washtenaw County Legal Aid Society. The suit was filed before Federal District Judge Fred W. Kaess. A hearing is set for March 24 in Detroit. The 14th Amendment reads, in part, that no state "shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person or life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

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