Goss+v.+Lopez


 * Goss v. Lopez (1975)**


 * Issue:** Can schools suspend students without due process?

The Court stated that in an emergency, students could be sent home immediately and a hearing held at a later date. The Court did not give students a right to a lawyer, a right to cross-examine witnesses, a right to call witnesses, or a right to a hearing before an impartial person. Justice Powell in his dissenting opinion opposing judicial intervention in school disciplinary cases warned that if hearings were required for most suspensions, **//"school authorities would have time to do little else."//** Mr. Justin White delivered the opinion of the Court:
 * Decision:** Students cannot be suspended without a hearing before the suspension. In Goss v Lopez, the U.S. Supreme Court in a five-to-four decision, determined that students who are suspended for 10 days or less are entitled to certain rights before their suspension. These rights include an oral or written notice of the charges, an explanation, if students deny the charges, an explanation of the evidence against them; and an opportunity for students to present their side of the story.


 * [|Significance:]** If a student is suspended today, schools must provide: 1) oral or written notice; 2) an explanation of evidence for a mini hearing.

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