Marshall Hamilton, et al. V. Unionville-Chadds Ford School District
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania No. 151 M.D. Appeal Docket 1997 July 21, 1998

Facts of the Case

Approximately one month after the February 28, 1995 theft of a Sony Discman from a student's locker , Marshall Hamilton admitted to the middle school principal that he had sold the Discman to a third party on behalf of the thief, knowing that it was stolen. Hamilton was then suspended for ten days.

On June 6, 1995, Hamilton was caught in school with both marijuana and regular cigarettes, and a lighter and lighter fluid in his possession. He was again suspended for ten days. In addition, the administration recommended to the school board that Hamilton be expelled for repeated "level F offenses."

The school board voted to permanently expel Hamilton. The Court of Common Pleas affirmed.

The Commonwealth Court reversed, holding that the middle school and district codes irreconcilably conflicted with each other. Additionally, Commonwealth Court found that Hamilton was improperly expelled, based on the middle school discipline code. The middle school code did not specifically mention expulsion as a punishment for level F offenses, while the district code indicated the possibility of expulsion in instances where infractions were serious enough.

Decision of the Court

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Commonwealth Court decision that had overturned the expulsion of Hamilton. The Court determined that the two discipline codes could be read together to decide the consequences, which included expulsion, for misconduct. Furthermore, the Court decided that Hamilton's due process rights were not violated because he was given proper notice of the charges against him.

Basis of the Court's Decision

Both parties cited the Rules of Statutory Construction, Pa.C.S.A. Section 11501 et seq. in their arguments. These rules were previously used in deciphering local ordinances. The court interpreted the Rules of Construction to relate to this case in that the two codes, middle school and district, both address discipline and as such can be used together to determine appropriate punishment for student misbehavior.

Furthermore, the court stated that the power to expel a student is expressly a power of the school board, and is, therefore, more suitably expressed in the district code. Section 13-1318 of the Pa. School Code and Section 12.6(7) of the 22 Pa. Code. Also, the middle school code stated that any offenses deemed to be serious enough could result in a hearing before the superintendent or school board. The Regulations of the State Board of Education located in Section 12.8 of 22 Pa. Code were used to decide the due process question.

Written by: Frank J. Boyer III and Olga Marie Ehrhart, July 6, 1999