Legal Question in Education Law in Illinois

Complaint against a law school for violating student due process rights.

I received an �F� for an elective 3 credit hour law school course where the professor claimed I�d plagiarized a substantial portion of a research paper where I failed to included quotation marks along with footnotes. Although the professor acknowledged she knew the plagiarism was unintentional she nevertheless gave a course grade of an �F� b/ I�d violated a student code of conduct. I have vehemently disputed the professors act of giving the grade of an �F� because it is a punishment for misconduct with no due process. The law school Student Handbook provides - an alleged misconduct by a student should be filed with the Dean in writing identifying the standard of conduct violated where the Dean would either dispose of the complaint or refer the matter to the Discipline Committee. Non of these steps were taken for my alleged misconduct. Administration told me Professors have much discretion when it comes to these matters and also said the �F� was not a punishment so no further action would be taken by the school. As a result of the �F� I am on academic probation and have lost $3,600. I am also in jeopardy of loosing my financial aid. Do I have grounds to assert a complaint against the school for violating my due process rights?


Asked on 8/27/03, 9:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Leibowitz Leibowitz Law Center

Re: Complaint against a law school for violating student due process rights.

I don't think so. Unless you are in a public school, your relation with the school is a matter of contract and courts will grant deference to the school's regulation of academic matters in any circumstance. You are only entitled to due process when it relates to "state action", so unless it is a public school, you don't have a leg to stand on relative to due process claims.

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Answered on 8/28/03, 11:52 am


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