Procedural Due Process Flashcards
Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment
The Fifth Amendment right to procedural due process requires the federal government to follow certain procedures when it deprives a person of life, liberty, or property.
These procedures include giving persons:
1) notice of the charges, proceedings, or other actions against them AND
2) a meaningful opportunity to be heard by a neutral decision-maker.
When is a public employee entitled to procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment?
A public employee is only entitled to these procedures if the employee has a l_egitimate property interest_ in his/her employment.
This exists when the employee:
(1) has an ongoing employment contract,
(2) can only be fired for cause, OR
(3) receives assurances of continued employment.
Rule Statement:
Public employees have a protected property right in their employment if they have an ongoing employment contract, can only be fired for cause, or receive assurances of continued employment. Employees are then entitled to due process—i.e., notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard—if the government seeks to discharge them.
Deprivation of public employment
example: Tenured professor at a state university
- Termination:
Due Process Requirements:
i) Notice of alleged misconduct
ii) Pre-termination opportunity to respond to allegation
iii) Post-termination evidentiary hearing
2. Suspension without pay:
Due process requirements:
i) Notice of alleged misconduct
ii) Prompt post-suspension evidentiary hearing
How do courts determine the process due when a state attempts to deprive an individual of life, liberty, or property?
When a state attempts to deprive an individual of life, liberty, or property, the Fourteenth Amendment requires that the state provide the individual with procedural due process.
To determine the process due, courts balance the government’s interest against the individual’s interest.
Since a public employee who can only be terminated for cause has a property interest in such employment—and termination is a serious deprivation of that interest—due process requires that the employee receive:
i) Notice of his/her alleged misconduct
ii) A pre-termination opportunity to respond to that allegation and
iii) A post-termination evidentiary hearing to determine if the termination was warranted.
Does a public employee who can only be terminated for cause have a property interest in such employment?
YES.
A public employee who can only be terminated for cause has a property interest in such employment—and termination is a serious deprivation of that interest—due process requires that the employee receive:
- notice of his/her alleged misconduct
- a pre-termination opportunity to respond to that allegation AND
- a post-termination evidentiary hearing to determine if the termination was warranted.
When must a judge recuse him/herself?
The Fourteenth Amendment due process clause requires that the government provide a meaningful opportunity to be heard before a neutral decision-maker when depriving persons of life, liberty, or property.
As a result, a judge must recuse him/herself from a case when:
(1) the judge has a direct, personal, substantial, pecuniary interest in it OR
(2) a serious, objective risk of actual bias exists.
A failure to recuse him/herself violates due process.
Protected Property Interests
Mathews v. Eldridge Balancing Test
If an individual’s protected interest is threatened by governmental action, the next step is to determine what type of process is due.
The Court considers three factors in determining the amount of process that is due:
i) The private interest affected by the governmental action;
ii) The risk of erroneous deprivation of that interest using current procedures and the probable value of additional or substitute safeguards; AND
iii) The government’s interest, including the function involved and the burden (fiscal and administrative cost) of providing the additional process.
Civil Forfeiture Actions
Personal Property
In civil forfeiture actions, the government deprives an individual of his/her property interest by seizing property allegedly used in criminal activity.
As a result, procedural due process generally requires that the government provide reasonable notice of the seizure and a meaningful opportunity to be heard before a neutral decision-maker.
However, personal property may be seized prior to providing notice and a hearing when:
1) the seizure serves a significant government interest
2) that interest would be frustrated by advance notice of the seizure AND
3) the seizure is performed by the government.
Civil Forfeiture Actions
Real Property
To determine whether real property may be seized by the government prior to providing notice and a hearing, the court must balance three factors:
1) the private interest affected by the deprivation
2) the risk of erroneous deprivation of that interest through current procedures and the probable value of additional or substitute procedural safeguards AND
3) the government’s interest, including the fiscal and administrative burdens that other safeguards would entail.
Example:
- The man’s property interest in his condominium likely outweighs the state’s interest in preventing illegal drug sales.
- And the risk of erroneously depriving the man of his home is high since ex parte proceedings offer little or no protection to innocent homeowners.
- Therefore, the city’s seizure of the man’s condominium was likely improper
Is a student entitled to a hearing with regard to dismissal for academic reasons from a public institution of higher learning?
NO.
A student is not entitled to a hearing with regard to dismissal for academic reasons from a public institution of higher learning.
Board of Curators of University of Missouri v. Horowitz (medical school student was fully informed respondent of the faculty’s dissatisfaction with her clinical progress and the danger that this posed to timely graduation and continued enrollment);
