Due Process

• The Impact of Board of Regents v. Roth

• What is a “property” interest?

• Does it have to be tangible property?• What did the court say about this issue in Goss v. Lopez?

• Who were the parties involved?• Which administrative agency was involved?

• Which type of law established the public school system?

• What did the court say about a student’s property interest in a public education?

• What as the court’s decision?• Was this the right decision?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 1

Due Process

• The Impact of Board of Regents v. Roth

• “Mutual Understanding” Claim of Entitlement• Due process requires more than a mere “abstract need or

desire or unilateral expectation”• The entitlement must be grounded in a “mutual

understanding”

• Between who?• Why was this the central issue in Roth?• Why did the court deem that Roth did not have a valid

property interest?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 2

Due Process

• The Impact of Board of Regents v. Roth

• Perry v. Sindermann

• Who were the parties involved in the case?• Which administrative agency was involved in this case?• How was this case similar to Roth ?• What does the court say about the “faculty guide”?

• What does the court say about state-wide regulation addressing the issue of teacher tenure?

• What was the court’s decision?• Did the court make the right decision?• How do you reconcile this case with Roth?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 3

Due Process

• The Impact of Board of Regents v. Roth

• Due process “is a safeguard of the security of interests that a person has already acquired in specific benefits”

• Applicants for benefits are not entitled to due process• Is this fair?• Should due process be required for applicants as well?• What are the pros?• What are the cons?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 4

Due Process

• The Impact of Board of Regents v. Roth

• What about indirect beneficiaries?• Can indirect beneficiaries gain a property interest in benefits

distributed pursuant to a government program?• O’bannon v. Town Court Nursing Center

• Who are the parties involved?• What administrative agency is involved in the case?• What was the plaintiff’s argument?• What was the central issue of the case?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 5

Due Process

• The Impact of Board of Regents v. Roth

• O’bannon v. Town Court Nursing Center• “Although decertification will inevitably necessitate the

transfer of all those patients who remain dependent on Medicaid benefits, it is not the same for purposes of due process analysis as a decision to transfer a particular patient or to deny him financial benefits, based on his individual needs or financial situation”

• Was this the right decision?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 6

Due Process

• Agencies and Liberty Interests

• What is “natural liberty”?• “This personal liberty consists in the power of

locomotion, of changing situation, or removing one’s person to whatsoever place one’s own inclination may direct; without imprisonment or restraint, unless by due course of law.”

• “State created liberty”• Statutory creation by the state• Morrissey v. Brewer

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 7

Due Process

• Agencies and Liberty (natural) Interests

• Roth citing Meyer v. Nebraska

• "While this Court has not attempted to define with exactness the liberty . . . guaranteed [by the Fourteenth Amendment], the term has received much consideration and some of the included things have been definitely stated. Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized . . . as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.“ In a Constitution for a free people, there can be no doubt that the meaning of "liberty" must be broad indeed.

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 8

Due Process

• What Process is Due?

• It is important for the public to be aware of known standard and revealed procedures • Helps individuals plan their lives accordingly• Consistency

• Goals of Due Process• Fairness• Accuracy• Security• Individual’s sense of worth and dignity

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 9

Due Process

• What Process is Due?

• What happens in adversarial hearings (from Morrissey)• Notice• Disclosure of the grounds of the agency action• Opportunity to be heard• Cross-examination/Confrontation• Impartial judiciary

• Written statement by the court supporting the decision• Right to counsel

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 10

Due Process

• What Process is Due?

• Goldberg v. Kelly• Who are the parties involved?• What administrative agency is involved in the case?• What was the plaintiff’s argument?• What was the central issue of the case?• What does the court say about the agency’s post-

termination provisions? • Was there a violation of due process?• What was the court’s decision?• What was the court’s reasoning?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 11

Due Process

• What Process is Due?

• Goldberg v. Kelly• “There is one overpowering fact which controls here. By

hypothesis, a welfare recipient is destitute, without funds or assets. Suffice it to say that to cut off a welfare recipient in the face of ... `brutal need' without a prior hearing of some sort is unconscionable, unless overwhelming considerations justify it.”

• “Against the justified desire to protect public funds must be weighed the individual's over-powering need in this unique situation not to be wrongfully deprived of assistance....”

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 12

Due Process

• What Process is Due?

• Goldberg v. Kelly• “Thus the crucial factor in this context ... is that termination

of aid pending resolution of a controversy over eligibility may deprive an eligible recipient of the very means by which to live while he waits. Since he lacks independent resources, his situation becomes immediately desperate. His need to concentrate upon finding the means for daily subsistence, in turn, adversely affects his ability to seek redress from the welfare bureaucracy.”

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 13

Due Process

• What Process is Due?

• Goldberg v. Kelly• “From its founding the Nation's basic commitment has been

to foster the dignity and well-being of all persons within its borders. We have come to recognize that forces not within the control of the poor contribute to their poverty.... Welfare, by meeting the basic demands of subsistence, can help bring within the reach of the poor the same opportunities that are available to others to participate meaningfully in the life of the community.”

• Did the court make the right decision?

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 14

Due Process

• What Process is Due?• Matthews v. Eldridge 3-part Test

• “Due process is flexible and calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands." Resolution of the issue here involving the constitutional sufficiency of administrative procedures prior to the initial termination of benefits and pending review, requires consideration of three factors: (1) the private interest that will be affected by the official action; (2) the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and probable value, if any, of additional procedural safeguards; and (3) the Government's interest, including the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedures would entail.

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 15

Due Process

• What Process is Due?

• Timing Issues• Generally, notice should be provided before a property

interest is deprived• Exceptions include:

• Property Rights• Emergency Action• Common Law Remedies

Administrative Law Class 9 Slide 16