Consejo General de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Puerto Rico v. University of Puerto Rico

325 F. Supp. 453, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14153
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 18, 1971
DocketCiv. No. 21-71
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 325 F. Supp. 453 (Consejo General de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Puerto Rico v. University of Puerto Rico) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Consejo General de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Puerto Rico v. University of Puerto Rico, 325 F. Supp. 453, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14153 (prd 1971).

Opinion

ORDER

TOLEDO, District Judge.

This case is before us on a Motion to Dismiss filed by defendants. The complaint is for an injunction and a declaratory judgment. We are asked to rule that the General Student Regulations of the University of Puerto Rico are unconstitutional and, therefore, to order the University to readmit those plaintiffs— six of them — who have been temporarily suspended pending investigation, or who have been denied enrollment — plaintiff Gaztambide-, and to drop charges against other plaintiffs who have merely been charged, without suspension, of violations to the Regulations. The acts for which plaintiffs have been charged were allegedly committed at different dates and places within the University Campus. The complaint and exhibits attached thereto show that ten plaintiffs were charged with taking part in an attack against the ROTC building and wilful destruction of property therein on March 4, 19701; two others are accused of displaying a sign containing defamatory statements against the President of the University in the midst of commencement exercises held on June 14, 19702; three plaintiffs were charged with forcibly entering and taking possession of the Dean’s office in the School of Social Sciences on October 15, 1970 3; two of the plaintiffs are charged with participating in a mass meeting with loudspeakers in the lobby of the Faculty of Education in spite of warnings by the Dean of the Faculty that they were violating University Regulations 4. Finally, another plaintiff was charged with interrupting the commencement exercises on June 14, 1970 with unauthorized speeches, tearing the diploma apart and throwing it to the floor.5

Plaintiffs claim that the University Regulations under which they were charged are unconstitutionally vague and overbroad; that the charges and summary suspensions have a “chilling effect” on their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly; and assert that their activities are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. In their memorandum 6, plaintiffs state that the “non violent symbolic occupation of a dean’s office” and their other actions at the University are in line with “the American tradition of democratic and legal confrontation”; that their various activities were “in order to dramatize to the University their views and positions concerning problems affecting their society” and are fully justified in the light of the “balancing tests” employed by the Supreme Court and the experience of the American Revolution.

[455]*455A complete study of the General Students Regulations of the University of Puerto Rico has been made. This study convinces the Court that the General Student Regulations of the University of Puerto Rico are far from unconstitutional “on their face”; on the contrary, they are a valid exercise of the power of state educational institutions to provide rules of student conduct and disciplinary sanctions for infractions thereof.

“To fulfill its function of imparting knowledge, a university must of course maintain order on its campus and exclude therefrom those who are detrimental to it's well being. A university has inherent general power to maintain order and to formulate and enforce reasonable rules of student conduct. Goldberg v. Regents of University of California [248 Cal.App.2d 867], 57 Cal.Rptr. 463 (Cal.App. 1st Dist.1967). University regulations for student because of the very nature of the institution and its goals and purposes, should not be tested by the same requirements of specificity as are state statutes.” Jones v. State Board of Education, 279 F.Supp. 190 (MD Tenn.1968), aff’d 407 F.2d 834 (CA 6, 1969), cert. dismissed, 397 U.S. 31, 90 S.Ct. 779, 25 L.Ed.2d 27 (1970).

The contention of plaintiffs herein that the Regulations of the University of Puerto Rico are invalid for “vagueness” and “overbreadth” and for their “chilling effect”, has been advanced and rejected in a host of cases dealing with state universities. Jones v. State Board of Education, supra; Esteban v. Central Missouri State College, 290 F.Supp. 622 (WD Mo.1968), aff’d. 415 F.2d 1077 (CA 8, 1969) (Blackmun, J.), cert. den. 398 U.S. 965, 90 S.Ct. 2169, 26 L.Ed.2d 548 (1970); Norton v. Discipline Committee of East Tennessee State University, 419 F.2d 195 (CA 6, 1969), cert. den., 399 U.S. 906, 90 S.Ct. 2191, 26 L.Ed.2d 562 (1970); Siegel v. Regents of University of California, 308 F.Supp. 832 (ND Cal.1970); Whitfield v. Simpson, 312 F.Supp. 889 (ED Ill.1970); Giangreco v. Center School District, 313 F.Supp. 776, 779 (WD Mo.1969), and see in general; “General Order on Judicial Standards of Procedure and Substance in Review of Student Discipline in Tax Supported Institutions of Higher Education” 45 F.R.D. 133 (WD Mo.1968) and cases cited. In some of the above cases the regulations are very similar to those of the University of Puerto Rico. Siegel v. Regents of University of California, supra; Whitfield v. Simpson, supra. The arguments advanced by plaintiffs as to their constitutional rights are identical to those set forth and rejected in Grossner v. Trustees of Columbia University, 287 F.Supp. 535 (SD N.Y.1968).

The summary or preliminary suspension of students pending investigation or hearing (Art. 16 of the UPR Regulations) has likewise been held proper, since the only requirement is that a hearing be held at some stage before the final order becomes effective. Jones v. State Board of Education, supra, 279 F.Supp. at p. 202; Barker v. Hardway, 283 F.Supp. 228 (S.D.W.Va.1968), affd. 399 F.2d 638 (CA 4, 1968), cert. den. 394 U.S. 905, 89 S.Ct. 1009, 22 L.Ed.2d 217 (1969). See: Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education, 294 F.2d 150 (CA 5, 1961), Scoggin v. Lincoln University, 291 F.Supp. 161, 172 (WD Mo.1968). Regulations on the right to picketing, marches and other demonstrations, similar to those contained in Article 3 of the UPR Regulations, have been found reasonable and valid. Powe v. Miles, 407 F.2d 73 (CA 2, 1968). And it was held in Jones, supra, 297 F.Supp. p. 200, that the limited combination by the school administration of prosecutorial and adjudicatory functions is not fundamentally unfair.

In short, the Regulations attacked in this case are so patently valid that the constitutional claim made by plaintiffs must be considered insubstantial. Therefore, we are under no duty to convene a three judge court to consider the petition for an injunction, cf. Sigma Chi Fraternity v. Regents of University of Colorado, 258 F.Supp. 515 (DC Colo.1966); on the contrary, we are bound to dismiss the complaint for lack of juris[456]*456diction. Swift & Company, Inc. v. Wickham, 382 U.S. 111, 86 S.Ct. 258, 15 L.Ed.2d 194 (1965); Benoit v. Gardner, 351 F.2d 846 (CA 1, 1965); Rosso v. Com. of Puerto Rico, 226 F.Supp. 688 (DC Puerto Rico 1964).

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Bluebook (online)
325 F. Supp. 453, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/consejo-general-de-estudiantes-de-la-universidad-de-puerto-rico-v-prd-1971.