The Black Coalition, an Unincorporated Association, and Cross-Appellees v. Portland School District No. 1, and Cross-Appellants

In this class action for a declaratory judgment in favor of the class and in-junctive relief in favor of three named plaintiffs, the district court was asked to rule that certain disciplinary procedures of the Portland, Oregon School District No. 1 were constitutionally infirm. The court held that the procedures for effecting an expulsion were unconstitutional in part, but that in all other respects the procedures complied with due process requirements. The court denied equitable relief to the three individual plaintiffs. All parties appealed to this court. We affirm the judgment of the district court in all respects.

I. FACTS

The deputy superintendent of schools for Portland School District No. 1 announced “Disciplinary Procedures” in December 1969. These rules contained the following components:

At issue in the present lawsuit is the constitutionality of these “Disciplinary Procedures,22 as applied in each of the following cases.

1. Gerald Brown. As the result of an alleged assault on a fellow student on January 6, 1970, Gerald Brown was suspended from Roosevelt High School on January 19, and his parents were notified thereof by letter on the same day. The parents were told…