On May 21, 2011, multiple students of the Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS) filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court of the Southern District of Alabama, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the Mobile County School District. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel and the Southern Poverty Law Center, sought a court order mandating due process hearings before the school district issues long-term suspensions or expulsions. Specifically, plaintiffs claimed that the school district violated the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process by denying students a hearing before issuing long-term suspensions or expulsions. The plaintiffs also alleged that the school district also failed to notify parents before a suspension or expulsion was issued and denied students the right to defend themselves against accusations and to have an advocate or legal counsel present at a hearing.

The plaintiffs alleged the Mobile County Public School System frequently used long-term suspensions and expulsions as disciplinary measures for minor infractions. These disciplinary measures have severe detrimental impacts on students, and plaintiffs claimed that to employ these measures without a hearing is a violation of due process. School administrators often used these measures not only without a hearing, but also without informing students' parents before the suspension was issued, a violation of the School Code of Conduct Handbook. To the extent that administrators acted against the disciplinary code, the plaintiffs claimed the Board of Commissioners turned a blind eye to these actions and failed in their duties to train and supervisor administrators.

On March 1, 2013, the parties entered mediation and on June 10, 2013, the District Court (Judge William H. Steele) dismissed the case with prejudice contingent on the parties agreeing to terms of the settlement agreement. On June 28, 2013, a settlement was reached. The settlement agreement stated terms for amending the Mobile County Public School System's Conduct Code. These changes included: requiring notification of parents when the principal recommended a long-term suspension; requiring a due process hearing for any long-term suspension recommendation; changing the definition of long-term suspension from eleven or more school days to five or more school days; reducing the number of infractions that suspension may be applied to; providing information sessions for parents and students to explain discipline policies; developing alternative punishments to suspension; and training administrators and establishing goals in order to reduce suspensions, among other measures. The settlement also included individual remedies for the individually named plaintiffs.

This settlement remained in effect until August 2016. There has been no action on the docket since June 28, 2013.

Claire Lally - 09/24/2014
Cade Boland - 11/03/2017


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