Standalone Approach

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Courts should choose to use the state-specific approach to property interests in education because it most closely follows precedent. It does so for three main reasons. First, Supreme Court precedent requires courts to look to state law, and not the constitution to determine property interests in education. This proposition is supported by the Supreme Court’s detailed examination of state law in Goss v. Lopez. Second, Courts should not use the standalone approach because it may dramatically expand the number of education-based property interests and removes the state’s role from determining what entitlements they provide. Third, courts should avoid the standalone approach because it creates a constitutional circuit-split that courts …show more content…

The Supreme Court created the independent source system in order to ensure that Federal Courts would not have to define what are property interests. The Courts reasoning was two-fold. First, the Court felt that Federal judges were ill-suited to create a list of property interests, and that it “would be more objective and constrained” if courts relied upon state law. Courts have also expressed concern that property interests may become outdated if left to the courts to decide. The second reason is that Roth and its line of cases are designed to protect states, and ensure they play a role in defining property interests. Specifically, the Supreme Court wanted to give the states the power to decide when they wanted to provide entitlements. The standalone approach undermines both of these goals by allowing courts, not states, to define what is a property interest in …show more content…

For example, does it extend beyond enrollment to areas such as grades or scholarship. One court has criticized a standalone property interest because they feared students would be entitled a hearing if they received they did not like. While that may seem like an absurd result, an Eight Circuit panel has actually suggested that a student may have a property interest in grading to the extent she cannot be graded capriciously. We can extend it further. For example, could a student have a property interest in a school-funded scholarship or in playing on the football team? Increasing property interests also increase costs as states have to pay to provide more procedure for individuals, which is another reason Roth sought to leave the power to determine entitlements in state hands. Courts should not use the standalone approach because it undermines Supreme Court

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