Hinds County School Dist. Bd. v. R.B. ex rel. D.L.B.

• Decision Date: 11 December 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2006-CT-00326-SCT.,2006-CT-00326-SCT.
• Citation: 10 So.3d 387
• Parties: HINDS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES v. R.B., A Minor by and through his next friend, D.L.B.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

10 So.3d 387

HINDS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES v. R.B., A Minor by and through his next friend, D.L.B.

No. 2006-CT-00326-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 11, 2008.

Rehearing Denied March 5, 2009.

T. Michael Cronin, James A. Keith, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Latrice Westbrooks, Jackson, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

CARLSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. The Hinds County School District Board of Trustees (School Board) filed a petition for writ of certiorari pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 17 after the Court of Appeals' issuance of a plurality opinion affirming the judgment of the Hinds County Chancery Court to reverse and expunge the School Board's decision to expel R.B. from Byram Middle School and the Main Street Alternative School. At the trial court level, the chancery court had ruled that the School Board's removal of R.B. from Byram Middle School due to his possession of a prohibited device and the School Board's subsequent decision to expel R.B. from the Alternative School for drug possession were arbitrary and capricious and unsupported by substantial evidence, resulting in substantial prejudice to R.B. The chancery court had further found that the substantial prejudice caused by the School Board's procedures resulted in a denial of R.B.'s right to due process. The chancery court had ordered that the School Board's disciplinary actions be expunged from R.B.'s record. The School Board appealed, and the Court of Appeals, in a five-five plurality opinion, affirmed the chancery court's judgment. Upon our grant of certiorari, the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi (hereinafter collectively the "ACLU") filed a Motion for Leave to File Brief of Amicus Curiae, which motion we in due course granted; therefore, in addition to the briefs of the parties, we now have before us for consideration, the ACLU's amicus brief which was filed pursuant to our order.¹ From the record before us and the applicable law, we are constrained to reverse the judgments of the Court of Appeals and the Chancery Court for the First Judicial District of Hinds County and to render judgment here in favor of the Hinds County School District Board of Trustees.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT AND RELEVANT FACTS²

¶ 2. R.B., a minor, by and through his next friend, D.L.B., appealed the Hinds County School District Board of Trustees' decision to expel R.B. from Byram Middle School and to place him at the Alternative School for the remainder of the 2004 school year and for the first nine weeks of the following 2004-2005 school year. The expulsion was a result of R.B. possessing what was deemed by the principal, superintendent, and the School Board to be a knife-in violation of school policy and Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-37-17(4).³ The appeal to the Hinds County Chancery Court was subsequently amended to include R.B.'s May 2004 expulsion from the Alternative School for possession of marijuana. The Chancery Court for the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Chancellor Patricia D. Wise presiding, conducted a hearing in chancery court on February 8, 2005, recessed that hearing, and then concluded the hearing on October 5, 2005. The chancellor reversed the expulsions and ordered them expunged from R.B.'s record.

¶ 3. R.B. was a student at Byram Middle School. On February 5, 2004, R.B. was summoned to the principal's office due to another student's report that R.B. was selling drugs on campus. Principal Campbell obtained R.B.'s consent and searched his backpack. This search resulted in the discovery of contraband, namely an instrument that has been described as both a nail file and a knife. R.B.'s father, D.L.B., was notified. Principal Campbell requested that D.L.B. assist in an additional, more invasive search that would involve the removal of R.B.'s clothing.⁴ D.L.B. refused this request. R.B. was subsequently arrested and taken to the detention center, where he was released into D.L.B's custody.⁵ As a result of this incident, Principal Campbell recommended that R.B. be expelled from Byram Middle School for one calendar year. The Hinds County School District Admission Appeals Committee⁶ held a hearing on February 17, 2004, at which R.B. was allowed to argue on his own behalf. R.B., by and through his next friend, D.L.B., responded to the allegations. The Appeals Committee also read statements from Principal Campbell and the school resource officer, and also viewed a photocopy of the instrument at issue. The Appeals Committee voted to expel R.B. for the remainder of the year and to put him on probation for the next school year. D.L.B. appealed this decision to the Hinds County School District Board of Trustees (the "School Board").

¶ 4. On March 10, 2004, the School Board reviewed the Appeals Committee's decision. D.L.B. gave a statement to the School Board, citing the School Safety Law and Policy Development Handbook in defense of his position that the instrument was an unaltered nail file, not a weapon. For reasons unknown, the actual instrument at issue was not available for examination by the School Board. D.L.B., according to his testimony, presented School Board members with an instrument that he described as identical to the one confiscated from R.B. The School Board assigned the superintendent the task of determining whether the device was a weapon. On March 12, 2004, based on a photocopied depiction of the instrument, the superintendent determined the instrument in question to be a knife in violation of school policy and Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-37-17(4) (Rev. 2006). Based on this determination, the School Board upheld the Appeals Committee's decision, and R.B. was placed at the Alternative School.

¶ 5. On May 19, 2004, while at the Alternative School, R.B. was accused of possession of marijuana. The marijuana was found in a classroom on a bookshelf near R.B. by an investigative officer. R.B. signed a written statement indicating that another student, J.D., had tossed the marijuana at him and that he had thrown it onto the bookshelf. Two students, including J.D., signed statements that the drugs belonged to R.B., and D.L.B. was again notified and summoned to the school. The Alternative School principal, Bob Mohr, recommended a one-year expulsion. D.L.B. appealed the expulsion to the Appeals Committee. R.B received written notice of the Appeals Committee hearing. This notice stated that R.B. and D.L.B. had the right to protest the expulsion and the hearing, and the notice further stated:

(1) A full statement of the charges lodged against the student is as follows: admitting to possession of a controlled substance and attempting to conceal and sell it;

(2) The names of all persons who are expected to offer statements against the student: Mr. Sheridan Stewart, Mr. Bob Mohr, Mr. Kelvin Mixon.

¶ 6. The notice also provided "[e]ach of you shall also have the right:"

(1) To have counsel present at the hearing;

(2) To cross-examine or otherwise pose questions to persons giving statements adverse to the student: To offer statements by the student and parent(s) or guardian and any other person who has information relevant to the charges advanced by the Administrative head of the Main Street Alternative School.

¶ 7. At this hearing, R.B. spoke on his own behalf. The Appeals Committee also considered five signed statements by students indicating that R.B had been in possession of marijuana. In the end, the Appeals Committee accepted Mohr's recommendation for expulsion.

¶ 8. The School Board met on June 10, 2004, and, after reviewing the evidence considered by the Appeals Committee, affirmed R.B.'s expulsion. D.L.B. later testified at the chancery court hearing that he did not give a statement at this School Board meeting due to not having received notice of the hearing. Instead, according to D.L.B., he received a letter from the School Board after the meeting, informing him that the expulsion for one calendar year had been affirmed.⁷ D.L.B. appealed both School Board decisions as to the two separate disciplinary actions, and the chancery court reversed the School Board's decisions concerning both disciplinary actions and ordered that these disciplinary actions be expunged from R.B.'s school records.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

¶ 9. The School Board appealed the chancery court's decision to reverse R.B.'s expulsion and to expunge his disciplinary record. The School Board presented the following questions to the Court of Appeals for review:

(1) Was the decision of the Hinds County School District (the "District") Board of Trustees to expel R.B. from Byram Middle School for the remainder of the school year for possession of a knife or dangerous implement on school grounds unsupported by substantial evidence, arbitrary and capricious, or in violation of the statutory or constitutional rights of R.B.?

(2) Was the decision of the Board to expel R.B. from the District for one calendar year for possession of marijuana unsupported by substantial evidence, arbitrary and capricious, or in violation of the statutory or constitutional rights of R.B.?

The Court of Appeals, in a five-five plurality opinion, affirmed the chancery court's decision. Hinds County Sch. Dist. v. R.B., 10 So.3d 495, 497, 2007 WL 2702819 (Miss. Ct.App.2007).

¶ 10. As to R.B.'s Alternative School placement for possession of a weapon, the Court of Appeals affirmed the chancellor's decision to reverse based on its conclusion that the School Board's decision was unsupported by substantial evidence, and, therefore, arbitrary and capricious. Id. at 502, ¶ 27. The plurality interpreted Mississippi Code Annotated Section 37-7-301(e) (Rev.2007) to require the School Board to view the knife and make its own factual findings instead of delegating such authority to the superintendent. Id. at 501-02, ¶¶ 24-25. Addition...