U.S. v. Miami University
| Decision Date | 27 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-3518.,00-3518. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MIAMI UNIVERSITY; Ohio State University, Defendants-Appellees, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Intervening Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Mark B. Stern (briefed), Alisa B. Klein (argued and briefed), U.S. Dept. of Justice Civ. Div., Appellate Sec., Washington, DC, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Margaret R. Carmany (briefed), Gerald L. Draper (argued and briefed), Roetzel & Andress, Columbus, OH, for Defendants-Appellees.
Kenneth A. Zirm (briefed), Walter & Haverfield, Cleveland, OH, for Amici Curiae.
Adam E. Scurti (briefed), King, Hargrave, Scurt & Jack, Steubenville, OH, for Amici Curiae.
Marc D. Mezibov (argued and briefed), Laura A. Abrams (briefed), Christian A. Jenkins (briefed), Sirkin, Pinales, Mezibov & Schwartz, Cincinnati, OH, for Intervenor-Appellant.
Before SILER and MOORE, Circuit Judges; FORESTER, Chief District Judge.*
Intervening Defendant-Appellant The Chronicle of Higher Education ("The Chronicle") contests the district court's grant of summary judgment and subsequent permanent injunction in favor of Plaintiff-Appellee the United States. Specifically, the district court concluded that university disciplinary records were "educational records" as that term is defined in the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, and that releasing such records and the personally identifiable information contained therein constitutes a violation of the FERPA. The district court permanently enjoined the Defendants-Appellees Miami University and The Ohio State University ("Miami," "Ohio State," or collectively "Universities") from releasing student disciplinary records or any "personally identifiable information" contained therein, except as otherwise expressly permitted under the FERPA. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM.
This case was born of a dispute between a university newspaper and the university's administration. In the spring of 1995, the editor-in-chief of Miami's student newspaper, The Miami Student ("the paper"), sought student disciplinary records from the University Disciplinary Board ("UDB") to track crime trends on campus.1 State ex rel. Miami Student v. Miami University, 79 Ohio St.3d 168, 680 N.E.2d 956, 957 (Ohio 1997). Miami initially refused to release the requested records, but after the editors made a written request pursuant to the Ohio Public Records Act, Ohio Rev.Code § 149.43, for all UDB records from 1993-1996, Miami released the records. Id. Pursuant to the FERPA privacy provisions, however, Miami redacted "from these records the identity, sex, and age of the accuseds [sic], as well as the date, time and location of the incidents giving rise to the disciplinary charges." Id. The editors were dissatisfied with Miami's redacted disclosure and subsequently filed an original mandamus action in the Ohio Supreme Court seeking full disclosure of the UDB records, redacting only the "name, social security number, or student I.D. number of any accused or convicted party." Id.
A divided Ohio Supreme Court granted the editors a writ of mandamus. Id. at 958. According to the Court, the Ohio Public Records Act "provides for full access to all public records upon request unless the requested records fall within one of the specific exceptions listed in the Act." Id. The relevant exception in the Miami case "excludes from the definition of public records those records `the release of which is prohibited by state or federal law.'" Id. (quoting Ohio Rev.Code § 149.43(A)(1)(o)).2 Relying on a Georgia Supreme Court case,3 the Ohio Supreme Court concluded that university disciplinary records were not "education records" as defined in the FERPA. Id. at 958-59. The Ohio Court reasoned that, because disciplinary records were not protected by the FERPA, they did not fall within the prohibited-by-federal-law exception to the Ohio Public Records Act. Id. Accordingly, the Court granted a writ of mandamus compelling Miami to provide the records requested by the editors. Id. at 959-60. Miami sought United States Supreme Court review of the Ohio decision, but the Supreme Court denied certiorari. Miami University v. The Miami Student, 522 U.S. 1022, 118 S.Ct. 616, 139 L.Ed.2d 502 (1997).
On the heels of the Ohio Supreme Court decision, The Chronicle,4 pursuant to the Ohio Public Records Act, made written requests of Miami and Ohio State for disciplinary records amassed during the calendar years 1995 and 1996. Because the Ohio Supreme Court concluded that student disciplinary records were not educational records covered by the FERPA, The Chronicle requested the records with names intact and minimal redaction as required by the Ohio Public Records Act. Upon receipt of the request, and in light of the Ohio Supreme Court decision, Miami contacted the United States Department of Education ("DOE") and explained that it might not be able to comply with the FERPA.5 The DOE told Miami that it believed the Ohio Supreme Court was incorrect in holding that student disciplinary records are not "education records" under the FERPA. Declaration of LeRoy S. Rooker, J.A. at 91. The DOE assured Miami "that the FERPA prohibits the University from releasing personally identifiable information contained in student disciplinary records." Id.
In December of 1997, Miami complied in part with The Chronicle's request by providing the newspaper virtually unredacted disciplinary records from November, 1995, and November, 1996. Id. at 92. Miami informed the DOE that it intended to comply with the remainder of The Chronicle's request. Id. In addition, Miami advised the DOE that it "had adopted a policy of releasing disciplinary records to any third-party requestor." Id.
In January of 1998, Ohio State confirmed with the DOE that it too had received The Chronicle's request for all disciplinary records from 1995 and 1996. Id. Ohio State informed the DOE that it already had released unredacted disciplinary records from November, 1995, and November, 1996. Id. Thereafter, Ohio State told the DOE that it intended to comply with the remainder of The Chronicle's request. Id.
Shortly after the DOE learned that Miami and Ohio State intended to release student disciplinary records containing personally identifiable information without the consent of the student, the United States filed the underlying complaint against the Universities.6 In the complaint, the DOE sought declaratory and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the Universities from releasing student disciplinary records that contain personally identifiable information, except as permitted under the FERPA. The DOE immediately filed a motion to preliminarily enjoin the Universities' release of student disciplinary records. The district court granted the motion and noted that the parties did not dispute the material facts; therefore, the court was left with a pure question of law.
On February 13, 1998, The Chronicle filed an unopposed motion to intervene and the district court granted the motion. The Chronicle subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the action and a motion to establish an order of procedure. The motion to dismiss contended that the DOE lacked standing to bring this action and that the DOE's enforcement power was limited to the administrative remedies outlined in the FERPA. The second motion alleged that The Chronicle may dispute certain material facts. The Chronicle requested a reasonable period of time for discovery and the filing of additional affidavits to develop those facts.
The DOE responded to The Chronicle's motions and filed its own motion for summary judgment. The district court denied The Chronicle's motion to dismiss and motion for an order of procedure. Determining that the student disciplinary records were "education records" under the FERPA, the court granted the DOE's motion for summary judgment and permanently enjoined the Universities from releasing student disciplinary records in violation of the FERPA.7 This timely appeal followed.
The Chronicle asserts that the district court should be reversed for several reasons. First, The Chronicle contends that the DOE lacks standing to bring an action seeking injunctive relief and compliance with the FERPA. Second, The Chronicle argues that the district court erred in holding that the FERPA "prohibits" education records disclosure, thereby concluding that education records were not subject to disclosure under the Ohio Public Records Act. Instead, The Chronicle contends that the district court implicitly held that the Ohio public records law was preempted by the FERPA. Third, The Chronicle alleges that the district court erred in holding that student disciplinary records are education records within the meaning of the FERPA. Next, The Chronicle contends that the district court erred by granting summary judgment without first permitting discovery to develop a sufficient factual record. Fifth, The Chronicle alleges that the United States had an entirely adequate remedy at law and failed to show irreparable harm; therefore, the district court erred in granting broad permanent injunctive relief. Finally, The Chronicle argues that, to the extent it prohibits disclosure of student disciplinary records, the FERPA violates the First Amendment and the district court failed to recognize that violation. After a recitation of the applicable standards of review and a brief FERPA synopsis, we will address these arguments in turn.
We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, using the same standard employed by the district court. Herman...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Krause
...injunction, the party seeking injunctive relief generally must show that there is no other adequate remedy at law. U.S. v. Miami University, 294 F.3d 797, 816 (6th Cir.2002); see also Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo, 456 U.S. 305, 311-20, 102 S.Ct. 1798, 72 L.Ed.2d 91 (1982) ("The Court has re......
-
Kentucky v. Yellen
...criminal conduct." See id. (citing Harris v. Olszewski , 442 F.3d 456, 467–68 (6th Cir. 2006), and then citing United States v. Miami Univ. , 294 F.3d 797, 814–15 (6th Cir. 2002) ). Yet we find that whether deference was warranted on such arcane topics as those has little relevance to the O......
-
Civil Liberties Union v. City Transit Authority, 09 Civ. 3595(RJS).
...see WJW-TV, Inc. v. City of Cleveland, 686 F.Supp. 177 (N.D.Ohio 1988), university disciplinary hearings, see United States v. Miami Univ., 294 F.3d 797 (6th Cir.2002), voter lists, see Cal-Almond, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric., 960 F.2d 105 (9th Cir.1992), state municipal planning meetings,......
-
First American Title Co. v. Devaugh
...of its own law, federal courts `owe no deference' to a state court's interpretation of federal law.") (quoting United States v. Miami Univ., 294 F.3d 797, 811 (6th Cir.2002)); accord Hawkman v. Parratt, 661 F.2d 1161, 1166 (8th Cir. As a matter of Michigan law as interpreted by the Michigan......
-
National Security and Access, a Structural Perspective
...(civil proceedings); Cal. First Amendment Coal. v. Woodford, 299 F.3d 868, 877 (9th Cir. 2002) (executions); United States v. Miami Univ., 294 F.3d 797, 824 (6th Cir. 2002) (student disciplinary board proceedings); Wash. Post v. Robinson, 935 F.2d 282, 288 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (plea agreements)......