Bay v. State Board of Education

378 P.2d 558, 233 Or. 601, 96 A.L.R. 2d 529, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 273
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 30, 1963
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 378 P.2d 558 (Bay v. State Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bay v. State Board of Education, 378 P.2d 558, 233 Or. 601, 96 A.L.R. 2d 529, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 273 (Or. 1963).

Opinions

PERRY, J.

Dean Norman Bay petitioned the circuit court of Union County for judicial review of the decision of appellant State Board of Education denying him issuance of a five-year elementary teacher’s certificate. Prom the decree of the circuit court reversing the Board’s decision for lack of competent evidence, appeal is made to this court.

In December of 1953 petitioner was tried and con-. [603]*603vieted in the state of Washington for his acts of breaking, entering, and grand larceny of several stores, the American Legion Club, and the local high school, committed while employed as a night policeman. At the time these acts were perpetrated, petitioner was 24 years old. After serving 18 months of a two-year sentence, he was paroled. He moved to La Grande, Oregon, where, in the fall of 1956 he enrolled at the Eastern Oregon College of Education. In 1958 the state of Washington restored to bim his full civil rights.

In 1960 petitioner was granted a one-year elementary teacher’s emergency certificate by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and taught elementary school while completing his fourth year at the college. Following graduation he applied for a five-year elementary teacher’s certificate, but his application was denied on June 14, 1961.

On September 13, 1961 a hearing was conducted before the Board, the primary purpose of which was to determine whether petitioner had furnished the evidence of good moral character which ORS 342.060(2) authorizes the superintendent to require of an applicant. Whereas numerous witnesses appeared at the hearing to testify of petitioner’s good character and over-all reputation in the community, the sole evidence of bad character introduced was the record of the prior conviction. The Board concluded that petitioner had not met. his burden of furnishing satisfactory evidence of good moral character and he thereupon petitioned the circuit court of Hnion County for review of the administrative order pursuant to ORS 183.480. The court held that evidence as to a prior conviction was irrelevant and immaterial in determining present character where not accompanied by- other evidence [604]*604which related the prior act to the present, and therefore adjudged there was no competent evidence to support the Board’s findings. The Board was ordered to issue petitioner the certificate, from which order this appeal is taken.

The appeal from the ruling of the Board of Education to the trial court was taken under the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, which reads, in part, as follows:

“(6) The review shall be conducted by the court without a jury as a suit in equity and shall be confined to the record, except that, in cases of alleged irregularities in procedure before the agency, not shown in the record, testimony thereon may be taken in the court. The court shall, upon request, hear oral argument and receive written briefs.
“(7) The court may adopt the agency findings of fact and affirm the decision of the agency; or it may reverse and set aside the agency decision, or reverse and remand for further proceedings, after review of all the facts disclosed by the record, and any additional facts established under the provisions of subsection (6) of this section. The court shall thereupon enter its decree. In the case of reversal the court shall make special findings of fact based upon evidence in the record and conclusions of law indicating clearly all respects in which the agency’s decision is erroneous.” ORS 183.480.

In order to properly discuss the issues presented it is first necessary to discuss the powers of the trial court in reviewing the Board’s determination.

"While the statute uses the language “as a suit in equity,” it is quite clear that this language refers only to the fact that the review shall be made by the court, not a jury, and does not grant to a trial court the [605]*605right on appeal to try the cause de novo. That is, the reviewing court is not granted the power to weigh the evidence and substitute its judgment as to the preponderance thereof for that of the agency. The extent to which a reviewing court should review the action of an administrative agency has been expressed by this court, as follows:

“* * * Generally, they go no further than to determine whether the agency (1) acted impartially; (2) performed faithfully the duties delineated in the legislative acts which conferred jurisdiction upon it; (3) stayed within its jurisdiction; (4) committed no error of law; (5) exercised discretion judiciously and not capriciously; and (6) arrived at no conclusion which was clearly wrong.” Richardson v. Neuner, 183 Or 558, 564, 194 P2d 989.

The learned trial court recognized these guide posts and reached the conclusion that the finding of the Board as to lack of good moral character could not be sustained by the record. This conclusion of the court is based upon a finding that there was no evidence of bad moral character at the time of application and therefore the Board’s conclusion was clearly wrong.

Whether or not the Board arrived at a conclusion which was clearly wrong depends upon whether a review of the entire record discloses any facts from which the conclusion drawn by the Board could be reached by reasonable minds. NLRB v. Columbian Enameling & Stamping Co., 306 US 292, 83 L Ed 660. There must be evidence that is “more than a mere scintilla. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 US [606]*606197, 83 L Ed 126. These thoughts are contained in and usually expressed as the “substantial evidence rule.” Cf Davis Administrative Law Treatise, Vol 4, § 29.02.

The Board made the following findings of fact which are pertinent to this appeal:

“1. That the applicant on December 9, 1953, was convicted of grand larceny on four counts in the Superior Court for Klickitat County, State of Washington and received a one to fifteen-year sentence by the said Court. That thereafter this sentence was fixed at a term of two years by the State Board of Terms and Parole of the State of Washington, and the applicant served an eighteen-month term at the Monroe Reformatory in the State of Washington.
“2. Thereafter upon his release he was placed on parole for approximately a year and moved to the City of La Grande, Oregon, and in the fall of 1956 entered the Eastern Oregon College of Education and enrolled in a teacher education course;
“3. That by act of the Governor of the State of Washington full civil rights were restored to him on July 3, 1958. # # # #
“8. The Board further finds the offenses committed by Mr. Bay consisted of breaking and entering various stores in Goldendale, Washington and grand larceny, and included safe burglaries at the American Legion Club, the Goldendale High School.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Oakmont, LLC v. Department of Revenue
377 P.3d 523 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2016)
Oakmont, LLC v. Dept. of Rev.
Oregon Supreme Court, 2016
Simpson v. Board of Parole & Post-Prison Supervision
241 P.3d 347 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)
Hutchinson v. City of Corvallis
895 P.2d 797 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1995)
Sobel v. Board of Pharmacy
882 P.2d 606 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1994)
State v. Marshall
823 P.2d 961 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1991)
Younger v. City of Portland
752 P.2d 262 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1988)
Kerr v. Hallett
677 P.2d 1098 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1984)
Crumpton v. Department of Water Resources
559 P.2d 927 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1977)
Stone v. Employment Division
559 P.2d 912 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1977)
Skookum Co., Inc. v. Employment Division
554 P.2d 520 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1976)
Corcoran v. Board of Examiners for Speech Pathology & Audiology
550 P.2d 1391 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1976)
Whitaker v. Fair Dismissal Appeals Board
550 P.2d 455 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1976)
Application of Portland General Electric Co.
550 P.2d 465 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1976)
Chrysler Corporation v. City of Beaverton
549 P.2d 678 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1976)
Braidwood v. City of Portland
546 P.2d 777 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1976)
Minniti v. Employment Division
535 P.2d 99 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1975)
Haviland Hotels Inc. v. Oregon Liquor Control Commission
530 P.2d 1257 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
378 P.2d 558, 233 Or. 601, 96 A.L.R. 2d 529, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bay-v-state-board-of-education-or-1963.