Do High School Students Have a Constitutional Right to Their Grades? The Fifth Circuit Applies the Goss Framework to Limit Students' Fourteenth Amendment Property Interests

Case Note by Martha G. Schmidt

This Case Note critiques the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision, James v. Cleveland School District. It describes how the Fifth Circuit maintained the judicial system’s hesitancy to expand public school students’ claims to due process violations, and suggests the strict standard may lead to constraints on the educational experience. While the Fifth Circuit adhered to precedent, it did not apply the most analogous cases, and unnecessarily used the United States Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in its analysis.


About the Author

Martha G. Schmidt, J.D. Candidate 2024, Tulane University Law School; B.A. 2021, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Citation

97 Tul. L. Rev. Online 29 (2023)