Administrative Law
Administrative Procedure and Judicial Review
Based on the scenario below, compile a list of major points
to be discussed, major sources to use as references, a list of major
constitutional issues and any assumptions that can be incorporated into the
facts to make an analysis.
Scenario: Congress passed a statute entitled the Cell Phone
Education Regulation Act (CPERA) to confront the possession and use of cellular
phones by students in primary schools. Congress was concerned with the ability
of students to cheat on exams and other assessments by using text
messaging and other cellular functions, as well as the
inability of schooladministration to address and control the problem. In CPERA,
Congress provided for the
establishment of the Cellular Educational Service (CES), an
agency to oversee the creation and enforcement of the necessary rules and
regulations to meet the objectives of CPERA. CES unilaterally enacted a series
of rules and regulations that required all students to undergo a search of
their clothes, backpacks, lockers, and desks
each morning. The rules also permitted random searches to
take place. A hidden provision in the regulation allowed for enforcement
officials to target their investigations more towards female students than male
students, since studies had shown that females talk on cellular phones more
often than males.
Penalties for violating CES rules and regulations include
the following: for a first offense, no hearing is held and the student receives
a written warning; for a second offense, a hearing conducted by school
officials is held and an automatic suspension is handed down; for a third
offense, a full
hearing is held by a board for the CES, after which a guilty
finding results in expulsion, arrest, and incarceration for 30 days. School
officials are also permitted, under the regulations, to permanently keep any
cellular phones they confiscate.
A group of parents has come to the office where you work
outraged by the substance of these rules and regulations. They are also upset
by the fact that no notice was given or hearings held prior to the enactment of
the rules and regulations. Finally, they do not think it was permissible for
Congress to delegate to this agency the power to enforce
regulations of this kind.
One parent in particular, Ted McKinley, is irate because his
daughter, Martha, was reported for committing a third offense of the rules and
regulations but was not given notice of her infraction or an opportunity to
appear and defend herself against the charges. Martha was immediately
expelled from school, arrested, and incarcerated. Her
cellular phone was taken and not returned to her or her parents. The board of
the CES decided that underage children lack sufficient capacity to appear of
their own behalf at agency hearings, and determined unilaterally that Martha
was
guilty of violating the rules and regulations. Ted wishes to
challenge in court the
agency's decision as well as ascertain what remedies he has
against the government and school officials for their conduct.
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