Tigrett v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
| Decision Date | 14 May 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-1473.,01-1473. |
| Citation | 290 F.3d 620 |
| Parties | Harrison Kerr TIGRETT; Bradley Clark Kintz, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The RECTOR AND VISITORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA; John T. Casteen, III; John P. Ackerly, III; Charles M. Caravati, Jr.; Champ Clark; William G. Crutchfield, Jr.; William H. Goodwin, Jr.; T. Keister Greer; Elsie Goodwyn Holland; Timothy Robertson; Terence P. Ross; Albert H. Small; Elizabeth A. Twohy; Henry L. Valentine, II; Walter F. Walker; Benjamin Warthen; James C. Wheat, III; Joseph Wolfe, in their capacities as members of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors; William Harmon, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Vice President of Student Affairs of the University of Virginia; Karen Holt; Tillman Breckenridge; Sylvia Terry; Charles Tolbert; Shamim Sisson, in their individual capacities and in the official capacities as members of the University's Fact Finding Panel formed by the Vice President of Student Affairs, William W. Harmon; John Hevner; Matthew O'Malley; Steve Saunders; Mark Kringlen; Alton Powell Clark; Priya Kumar; Emily Halayko, in their individual capacities and in their official capacities as members of the University of Virginia Judiciary Committee, Fall 1998, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Frank Lee Watson, III, Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell, P.C., Memphis, Tennessee, for Appellants. Richard Croswell Kast, Associate General/Special Assistant Attorney General, Office of the General, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Defendants-Appellees.
ON BRIEF:
Frank L. Watson, Jr., Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell, P.C., Memphis, Tennessee, for Plaintiffs-Appellants. Paul J. Forch, General/Special Assistant Attorney General, Susan M. Davis, Associate General/Special Assistant Attorney General, Office of the General, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before WILKINS, NIEMEYER, and KING, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge KING wrote the opinion, in which Judge WILKINS and Judge NIEMEYER joined.
Appellants Harrison Kerr Tigrett and Bradley Clark Kintz sued various officials connected to the University of Virginia (the "University") under provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Tigrett and Kintz, both former students at the University, were punished pursuant to its student disciplinary procedures, and they assert in their lawsuit that they suffered multiple deprivations of their constitutional rights. The district court for the Western District of Virginia denied their claims, Tigrett v. Rector & Visitors of the Univ. of Virginia, 137 F.Supp.2d 670 (W.D.Va.2001), and this appeal followed. As explained below, we affirm.
In the early morning hours of November 21, 1997, Tigrett and Kintz (the "Appellants"), along with three of their fraternity brothers, Richard Smith, Wes Kaupinen, and Wes McCluney, travelled to a convenience store in Charlottesville, Virginia. While returning from the store, they encountered Alexander Kory, another University student, walking on the school's main grounds. Kory then engaged in a hostile verbal exchange with at least one of the five men, and the exchange escalated to the point where McCluney stopped his vehicle and Smith, Kaupinen, and the Appellants exited from it. Kaupinen avoided further hostilities by returning to the fraternity house, but the Appellants confronted Kory. In an effort to calm the situation, Smith instructed Kory to leave, and he directed the Appellants to return to the automobile. Kory then called Smith a "fat ass," and in response Smith punched Kory in the face. The Appellants also may have kicked and attacked Kory, and, as a result, Kory suffered extensive injuries to his face, jaw, and teeth. A few days after the incident, Smith turned himself in to the University Police, and he later brought the other four students — the Appellants, plus McCluney and Kaupinen — with him to the police station. All five students then made voluntary statements to the University authorities. On December 3, 1997, pursuant to the procedures of the University Judiciary Committee ("UJC"), Kory initiated a student disciplinary complaint against Smith, McCluney, and the Appellants.1
The UJC is a student-operated disciplinary body of the University with responsibility for investigating and hearing complaints involving student misconduct, particularly violations of the University Standards of Conduct ("USOC").2 Pursuant to its By-Laws, a UJC trial must be convened within a reasonable time after the filing of a complaint, and an accused must be accorded reasonable notice of any charges and of the time and place for trial. In each case, a UJC member is appointed as Investigator, and he meets with the complainant, the accused, and other witnesses to ascertain the facts underlying the complaint. The Investigator compiles a Report, which is usually presented at a UJC trial. The trial is conducted before a panel of seven members of the UJC. Pursuant to UJC By-Laws, decisions of a trial panel are automatically subject to review by the University's Vice President for Student Affairs. If the Vice President for Student Affairs concludes that the decision of the trial panel is inappropriate, he may remand the matter to the UJC, or he may refer it to an independent body called the Judicial Review Board ("JRB"), which is composed of faculty, administrators, and students.3 The JRB possesses the authority to remand the case to the UJC for a new trial, or it may reverse or modify the trial panel's decision.
Kory's complaint alleged that Smith, McCluney, and the Appellants violated Section 1 of the USOC, which prohibits physical or sexual assault,4 and Section 5 of the USOC, by blocking traffic on University property.5 Because McCluney was scheduled to graduate at the end of the following semester, the Vice President for Student Affairs, William Harmon, determined that he would not be subjected to a UJC trial. Instead, Harmon reprimanded McCluney and required that he attend aggression counselling sessions before he could receive his University diploma. The UJC initially scheduled the trial of Smith and the Appellants (collectively, the "UJC Defendants") for February 19, 1998, but the trial was postponed pending resolution of criminal charges in the state court of Albemarle County, Virginia.
In May 1998, Smith was convicted in state court of assault and battery, on the basis of a nolo contendere plea. The Appellants and McCluney also entered pleas of nolo contendere and were convicted of disorderly conduct. The UJC thereafter rescheduled the trial of the UJC Defendants for November 21, 1998, before a seven-member UJC panel (the "1998 UJC Panel").
Prior to their trial (the "UJC Trial"), the disciplinary charges against the UJC Defendants were amended to include a charge under Section 8 of the USOC, which prohibits disorderly conduct.6 According to the Investigator, the UJC Defendants were notified of the Section 8 charge when they received his Report, which occurred at least forty-eight hours before the UJC Trial was scheduled.7
On November 20, 1998, the day before trial was to begin, the UJC Defendants, along with Smith's father and his student counsel, met with Vice President Harmon to express concerns about the trial. After the Appellants left the meeting, Smith and his father continued their discussions with Harmon. Smith subsequently asserted (as do the Appellants on appeal) that Harmon assured him that the trial would not go forward the next day. At approximately seven o'clock that evening, Smith's student counsel filed a motion requesting that the trial be postponed, which the UJC denied later that night. Smith's student counsel promptly advised the UJC Defendants that their trial would be conducted as scheduled, but they nevertheless decided not to attend. Because Harmon had represented that the trial would not proceed, the UJC Defendants believed that any trial conducted in their absence would be invalid.
Although the UJC Defendants failed to attend, their trial was conducted the next day. Following presentation of the prosecution's evidence, the 1998 UJC Panel found each of the UJC Defendants guilty on all three charges: violating Section 1 (physical assault), Section 5 (blocking traffic), and Section 8 (disorderly conduct), and the Panel recommended their expulsions from the University. By letters of November 21, 1998, the UJC informed the three UJC Defendants of the expulsion sanctions, and it advised them of their right to appeal the decisions to the JRB. These letters failed to reflect that, pursuant to the UJC's By-Laws, the decisions were automatically subject to review by the Vice President for Student Affairs, i.e., Vice President Harmon. On November 23, 1998, the UJC wrote to Harmon, requesting "finalization of its expulsion sanctions." Without a response from or the approval of Harmon, the UJC then wrote the University's Registrar, on November 24, 1998, requesting that she mark "enrollment discontinued" on the transcripts of the UJC Defendants. After consulting with Harmon, however, the Registrar did not mark anything on their transcripts and she declined to discontinue their enrollments. Instead, the Registrar wrote the words "Not Processed" at the bottom of the UJC's letters.
On November 25, 1998, Vice President Harmon declined to finalize the expulsions. He instead acknowledged "perceived procedural irregularities and misunderstandings," and he referred the case to the JRB. Pursuant to the JRB's Procedures For Appeals, the UJC Defendants each appealed to the JRB. The Chairperson of the JRB then appointed a three-member Appellate Review Panel, consisting of a professor, an administrator, and a student, to handle their appeals. On February 11, 1999, the Review Panel set aside the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bhattacharya v. Murray
...that students have a protected property right to continued enrollment, as the Court does here. See Tigrett v. Rector & Visitors of the Univ. of Va. , 290 F.3d 620, 627 (4th Cir. 2002).Bhattacharya also argued that he has alleged a liberty interest in his reputation. A plaintiff has a right ......
-
Joyner v. Patterson
...Plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3); see also United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726(1966); Tigrett v. Rector & Visitors of the Univ. of Va., 290 F.3d 620, 626 (4th Cir. 2002) (affirming district court's dismissal of state law claims when no federal claims remained in the case). ......
-
Doe v. Rector & Visitors of George Mason Univ.
...to reputation alone does not deprive an individual of a constitutionally protected liberty interest." Tigrett v. Rector & Visitors of Univ. of Va., 290 F.3d 620, 628 (4th Cir.2002). Instead, to state a procedural due process liberty interest claim, a plaintiff claiming due process protectio......
-
Shepard v. Irving
...one must have suffered ... a loss of either a property or a liberty interest.")); see also Tigrett v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, 290 F.3d 620, 626-27 (4th Cir. 2002) (holding that because the plaintiffs were not expelled by the university judicial panel, as alleged, ......
-
Due Process Roulette: Why Public University Students Are Not Guaranteed Procedural Due Process When Facing Suspension or Dismissal
...Scis., 804 F.3d 178, 191 (2d Cir. 2015); Oyama v. Univ. of Haw., 813 F.3d 850, 874-75 (9th Cir. 2015); Tigrett v. Rector & Visitors, 290 F.3d 620, 627 (4th Cir. 2002); Richmond v. Fowlkes, 228 F.3d 854, 857 (8th Cir. 2000); Mauriello v. Univ. of Med. & Dentistry, 781 F.2d 46, 51-52 (3d Cir.......