Aase v. State, South Dakota Bd. of Regents, 15246

• Decision Date: 09 March 1987
• Docket Number: No. 15246,15246
• Citation: 400 N.W.2d 269,37 Ed.LawRep. 670
• Parties: 37 Ed. Law Rep. 670 Clifford Scott AASE, et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. STATE of South Dakota, SOUTH DAKOTA BOARD OF REGENTS et al., Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

Page 269

400 N.W.2d 269

37 Ed. Law Rep. 670

Clifford Scott AASE, et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. STATE of South Dakota, SOUTH DAKOTA BOARD OF REGENTS et al Defendants and Appellees.

No. 15246.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Argued Sept. 15, 1986.

Decided Jan. 28, 1987.

Rehearing Denied March 9, 1987.

Celia Miner of Brady, Kabeiseman, Reade & Johnson, Yankton, and David J. Figuli of Wickens, Herzer & Panza, P.C., Greeley, Co., for plaintiffs and appellants.

Terry N. Prendergast of Boyce, Murphy, McDowell & Greenfield, Sioux Falls Wayne F. Gilbert and Ronald W. Banks of Banks & Johnson, P.C., Rapid City, and John Meyer of South Dakota Board of Regents, Pierre, for defendants and appellees.

HEEGE, Circuit Judge.

This is one of a series of actions brought to test the legality of closing the University of South Dakota at Springfield (USD/S) and the effect of such closing on various individuals. ¹ The plaintiffs in this action are students who attended USD/S during the academic year 1983-84. The defendants include the members of the South Dakota Board of Regents, individually and in their capacity as regents. The trial court granted these defendants' motion for summary judgment and the plaintiffs appealed. We affirm.

In the spring of 1984 the South Dakota Legislature enacted Senate Bill 221, which was signed into law as an emergency measure on March 9, 1984. 1984 S.D.Sess.Laws ch. 138. In pertinent part, the bill transferred control of the USD/S grounds and facilities from the Board of Regents to the Board of Charities and Corrections, effective May 1, 1984, and converted the school to a minimum security prison. The bill also permitted the students to finish out the 1983-84 academic year at the Springfield campus and required that the Board of Regents and the Board of Vocational Education take steps to give the students an opportunity to complete their courses of study in South Dakota through articulation agreements and by including a baccalaureate program of vocational education within one of the institutions under their control.

The students filed suit, alleging five counts in the amended complaint: (1) a claim for breach of contract; ² (2) a claim for injunctive relief to prevent closure of USD/S and a declaration that SB 221 is unconstitutional; (3) a claim for violation of civil rights under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1982); (4) a claim for invasion of individual constitutional rights; and (5) claims made under the South Dakota Deceptive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act. SDCL ch. 37-24.

We conclude, as did the trial court, that based on the record and as a matter of law the students had no enforceable contract rights against the Regents. As a general principle, the relationship between a university and a student is contractual by nature. Corso v. Creighton University, 731 F.2d 529 (8th Cir.1984); 14 C.J.S. Colleges and Universities Sec. 24. However, the only contract formed between the student and the school which he is attending is for the term for which the tuition is paid. See Abbariao v. Hamline University School of Law, 258 N.W.2d 108 (Minn.1977). In the instant case the students were permitted to complete the academic year at the Springfield campus, so no rights of the students were impaired. Plaintiffs did not develop any other contract rights with the Board of Regents.

Plaintiffs claim the trial court erred in holding that SB 221 made impossible the performance of any contract with the Regents; they argue that the Regents could have performed their "contractual obligations" either at Springfield or at other institutions. We need not and do not reach this issue in view of our holding that no contract rights existed after the 1983-84 academic year.

The trial court was not required to determine, and we do not reach, the question of what rights the plaintiffs may have against the Board of Regents under the mandate from the legislature to "assure ... the opportunity to complete their course of study in South Dakota...." We are compelled to reach this result because the plaintiffs made no claim against the Regents on that theory in their amended complaint. Moreover, it stands undisputed in the record that the Board of Regents gave the students the opportunity to complete their courses of study in South Dakota as required by SB 221.

With regard to the question of injunctive relief, it is clear that the students are not entitled to a mandatory injunction against closure of the Springfield campus. The constitutionality of SB 221 was previously established in Kanaly, supra, note 1.

The trial court concluded, and we agree, that the Board of Regents is not a person within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1982) and may not be sued under that section. Prostrollo v. University of South Dakota, 507 F.2d 775 (8th Cir.1974), cert. denied 421 U.S. 952, 95 S.Ct. 1687, 44 L.Ed.2d 106 (1975); South Dakota Bd. of Regents v. Hoops, 624 F.Supp. 1179 (D.S.D.1986). Further, the trial court correctly held that the Regents in their individual capacities enjoy a qualified or good faith immunity which applies to the claims made in this action. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); see also Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982); Procunier v. Navarette, 434 U.S. 555, 98 S.Ct. 855, 55 L.Ed.2d 24 (1978); O'Connor v. Donaldson, 422 U.S. 563, 95 S.Ct. 2486, 45 L.Ed.2d 396 (1975); Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 95 S.Ct. 992, 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975).

Finally, the trial court concluded, and we agree, that no constitutional rights of the students were invaded and no violation of SDCL ch. 37-24 was shown. Therefore, the trial court was correct in entering summary judgment within the strict standards set forth in Wilson v. Great Northern Ry. Co., 83 S.D. 207, 157 N.W.2d 19 (1968). The evidence viewed most favorably to the plaintiffs establishes that the Board of Regents, individually and in their official capacities, are entitled as a matter of law to judgment dismissing plaintiffs' amended complaint.

The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

MORGAN, J., and FOSHEIM, Retired Justice, concur.

HENDERSON and SABERS, JJ., dissent.

HEEGE, Circuit Judge, for WUEST, C.J., disqualified.

MILLER, J., not having been a member of the court at the time this action was submitted to the court, did not participate.

HENDERSON, Justice (dissenting).

Movant/State of South Dakota was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. SDCL 15-6-56(c).

A court must give the non-moving party the benefit of any doubt as to the propriety of granting summary judgment. Hurney v. Locke, 308 N.W.2d 764 (S.D.1981).

Be it a pleading, affidavit, or deposition, a court must give every reasonable inference which arises from said pleading, affidavit, or deposition, viewed most favorably, toward the non-moving party--in this instance, the students. Wilson v. Great N. Ry. Co., 83 S.D. 207, 157 N.W.2d 19 (1968).

This Court is not bound by any decision of the circuit court as regards its determination of fact or of the law. As an appellate court, we should conduct an independent review of the record. Furthermore, until such time as the facts have been developed so that they are reasonably certain, it is wrong for a court to make a determination of law, for such a determination of law is based upon uncertainty of the facts in the case. N.L.R.B. v. Smith Indus., Inc., 403 F.2d 889 (5th Cir.1968). Where there are complicated issues of fact to be resolved, so as to address difficult questions of law, it is necessary to "simply recognize that there are instances where summary judgment is too blunt a weapon with which to win the day...." Miller v. Gen. Outdoor Advertising Co., 337 F.2d 944, 948 (2d Cir.1964). A judge cannot summarily try the facts. He should limit his role to applying the law to the facts which have been established by the showing before him. When there is conflicting evidence which causes conflicting interpretation, or where reasonable men might differ as to its significance, summary judgment is not a proper remedy. 10A Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 2725, at 106-09 (1983). ¹

In this case, the trial court struck five separate causes of action of the plaintiff. Defendants raised an impossibility of performance defense. The trial court determined that under the terms of Senate Bill 221, as a matter of law, the contracts with the students could not be performed by the Board.

Senate Bill 221 contains certain basic factual statements. Different conclusions and inferences may be drawn from said basic factual statements.

Students should have been permitted to phase out their educational programs. The majority of the programs offered at USD/S were not offered at other post-secondary institutions or institutions of higher education in South Dakota. Senate Bill 221 affected approximately 800 students enrolled in various educational programs. The educational rug was cut from under their feet. Now their legal rights are cut from under their feet. It is a tragedy of great dimension and unparalleled in South Dakota educational history. Prisoners in the State Penitentiary are now phased into students' classrooms and dormitories. USD/S was an outstanding junior college and technical/vocational school. To this end, degrees were awarded such as Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Bachelor of Science and Technology, and Bachelor of Science and Education.

The plaintiffs and aforesaid students were enrolled in these programs and had invested their time and money in consuming college courses, admissions counselors, reading admission brochures for pre-enrollment use, and generally relying upon the representations of that institution's staff and faculty members regarding their educational programs. By Section 4 of Senate Bill 221, the Board of Regents and the Board of Vocational Education were directed to "take all necessary steps to insure...