Smith v. Denton, 93-1297

• Decision Date: 03 April 1995
• Docket Number: No. 93-1297,93-1297
• Citation: 320 Ark. 253,895 S.W.2d 550
• Parties: , 99 Ed. Law Rep. 636 Dr. John SMITH, Vice President for Student Affairs, UCA; Winfred L. Thompson, President, UCA; and Madison P. Aydelott, III; Ben F. Burton; Elaine Goods; Rush Harding, III; Jerry Malone; Joe M. White; and Dalda F. Womack, Board of Trustees; UCA, Appellants, v. Heather A. DENTON, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 550

895 S.W.2d 550

320 Ark. 253, 99 Ed. Law Rep. 636

Dr. John SMITH, Vice President for Student Affairs, UCA Winfred L. Thompson, President, UCA; and Madison P Aydelott, III; Ben F. Burton; Elaine Goods; Rush Harding III; Jerry Malone; Joe M. White; and Dalda F. Womack Board of Trustees; UCA, Appellants, v. Heather A. DENTON, Appellee.

No. 93-1297.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

April 3, 1995.

Mary B. Stallcup, Conway, for appellants.

Linda Collier, Conway, for appellee.

ROSALIND M. MOUSER, Special Justice.

In this appeal from a decision of the Faulkner County Chancery Court finding the firearms policy of the University of Central Arkansas facially void and violative of substantive due process and setting aside the three-year suspension of appellee Heather A. Denton, a UCA student, the appellants--the University of Central Arkansas and members of its administration and Board of Trustees ¹--raise four points for reversal.

UCA argues that (1) the court had no power to set aside UCA's disciplinary action against Ms. Denton, unless the university's action was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law; (2) UCA's decision to suspend Ms. Denton was neither arbitrary nor capricious; (3) UCA's decision to suspend Ms. Denton was not contrary to law; and (4) Ms. Denton received procedural due process. These four questions can be grouped more coherently under two broad issues: whether Ms. Denton received (1) procedural due process and (2) substantive due process. Although the chancellor did not address the former topic, we have determined, on de novo review, that Ms. Denton was denied procedural due process. We uphold the decision of the chancery court when it reaches the right result, even if it did not enunciate the right reason. Cawood v. Smith, 310 Ark. 619, 839 S.W.2d 208 (1992). It is unnecessary for us to address the substantive due process issue.

Ms. Denton requested and was denied damages and attorney's fees. On cross-appeal, she contends that the chancellor erred in finding that the actions of UCA and its agents did not exempt them from their immunity and in denying her damages and attorney's fees. We agree with the chancery court's findings and affirm its decisions on both the appeal and the cross-appeal.

Facts

In December 1992, after several firearms incidents on its campus, UCA issued a revised firearms policy, which provided that:

Any student possessing, storing, or using a firearm on University controlled property or at University sponsored or supervised functions, unless authorized by the University, will be suspended from UCA for a period of not less than three years unless a waiver of the suspension is granted by the President upon the recommendation of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

A copy of the amended firearms policy was delivered to every student organization and residence-hall room and was published on January 11, 1993, in the student newspaper.

On the morning of Saturday, February 13, 1993, Heather A. Denton, a UCA freshman honors student on a full academic scholarship with no disciplinary record, loaned her automobile to a friend, Victor Smith, a non-student. The vehicle was returned to her later in the day.

That evening, Ms. Denton, Eric Patterson, a UCA student, and a mutual friend, Rita Patel, went "cruising" off-campus in Ms. Denton's car, with Mr. Patterson driving. While they were stopped in downtown Conway, a confrontation occurred with unknown occupants of a pickup truck. During the incident, a third vehicle arrived on the scene, and, reportedly, an unidentified person in that car waved a handgun.

Soon after these events, Mr. Patterson drove Ms. Denton's car back to the UCA campus. A Conway police officer, who had received a report about the incident (including the brandished weapon), located and followed Ms. Denton's vehicle to the campus and then stopped and searched it. An unloaded semi-automatic weapon was found in a backpack-style book bag beneath the passenger seat. Ms. Denton, Mr. Patterson, and Ms. Patel denied knowledge of the presence of the gun, though Mr. Patterson stated that it was owned by Victor Smith. Mr. Patterson was arrested and removed from the scene of the stop. No action was taken against either Ms. Denton or Ms. Patel by law enforcement officials.

After becoming aware of the incident, appellant Dr. John Smith, UCA Vice-President for Student Affairs, interviewed Ms. Denton on Monday, February 15, 1993. During the interview, Dr. Smith advised her that she was being charged with a violation of the firearms policy and was being suspended pending a determination by the Student Judicial Board. Dr. Smith ordered Ms. Denton to leave the campus immediately. No written notice of the charge was given to Ms Denton prior to this meeting, nor did Dr. Smith simultaneously document the interview.

On Wednesday, February 17, 1993, some four days after the incident, the Student Judicial Board conducted a hearing. Various witnesses gave testimony, including Victor Smith, who admitted that he was the owner of the gun and that he had borrowed Ms. Denton's car to go shooting at targets with Mr. Patterson and his brother. He said that after they had finished, he put the gun in the book bag and placed it in the floorboard behind the passenger seat without Ms. Denton's knowledge or permission.

The Board found Ms. Denton not guilty of the charge, declaring its belief that she "did not have knowledge that the weapon was in the car," and recommended that no action be taken against her. Dr. Smith, however, rejected the Student Judicial Board's finding and determined that Ms. Denton should be suspended. Ms. Denton then appealed Dr. Smith's decision to the University Discipline Committee, which found her guilty of a violation of the firearms policy but recommended that the sanction be reduced. Dr. Smith, to whom the recommendation had been referred, withdrew from further consideration of the case.

As a result, Ms. Denton appealed the decision to appellant Dr. Winfred L. Thompson, President of UCA, who upheld the University Discipline Committee's guilt determination but rejected its recommendation of a reduced sanction. Dr. Thompson then imposed the three-year suspension provided for in the UCA firearms policy.

On March 11, 1993, Ms. Denton filed a petition for a temporary restraining order in the Faulkner County Chancery Court, requesting that the court stay or enjoin her suspension from UCA. The following day, the chancellor entered a temporary injunction. Subsequently, on March 31, 1993, Ms. Denton filed an amended petition for a permanent injunction, asserting that UCA's firearms policy failed, on its face, to provide substantive due process and that UCA's actions failed to provide procedural due process. An expedited hearing was held on April 8 and 16, 1993. The chancery court converted the temporary restraining order into a permanent restraining order, finding that:

the UCA gun policy violates the 5th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, in that it is violative of substantive due process; that is, the policy is void on its face and violates basic principles of democracy. The policy is hereby struck and any attempts to enforce the said policy against any student subsequent to April 16, 1993, will be sanctioned by the inherent contempt authority of the Court.

Having found that the firearms policy was facially void, the chancery court declared the procedural due process issue moot and declined to issue a ruling on the question. The court also found that the actions of UCA and its agents did not remove their immunity and, therefore, that Ms. Denton was not entitled to damages and attorney's fees. From that order, this appeal and cross-appeal arise.

Standard of review ²

As the Administrative Procedure Act is not applicable to this case, we consider the evidence presented at trial on a de novo basis. The avenue for judicial review of the substance of academic decisions is narrow. See Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing, 474 U.S. 214, 106 S.Ct. 507, 88 L.Ed.2d 523 (1985). There is a general policy against intervention by the courts in matters best left to school authorities. Henderson State University v. Spadoni, 41 Ark.App. 33, 848 S.W.2d 951 (1993).

It is undisputed that UCA is a state-supported institution of higher learning which may delegate to its administration disciplinary power over non-academic offenses. A chancery court has no power to interfere in the exercise of a state-supported university's discretion in the promulgation and implementation of disciplinary measures unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the university abused its discretion. See Springdale Board of Education v. Bowman, 294 Ark. 66, 740 S.W.2d 909 (1987); Williams v. Board of Marianna School District, 274 Ark. 530, 626 S.W.2d 361 (1982); Safferstone v. Tucker, 235 Ark. 70, 357 S.W.2d 3 (1962). We hold that there was clear and convincing evidence, outlined in the discussion below, that UCA's actions constituted an abuse of the university's discretion.

Procedural due process

The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gives rights to a student who faces suspension or expulsion for misconduct at a tax-supported college or university. Henderson State University v. Spadoni, supra, citing Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education, 294 F.2d 150 (5th Cir.1961). A student facing suspension is entitled, at the very minimum, to some kind of notice and some kind of hearing. Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 95 S.Ct. 729, 42 L.Ed.2d 725 (1975).

The UCA "Standards of Student Conduct" promulgates disciplinary procedures governing the enforcement of university regulations. The student handbook notes that "the University strives to protect the rights of students involved in the disciplinary process by providing specific due process procedures, including appeals, to insure fair and just...