"The sole question which is before us, then, is whether the existence of these facts and these events constitutes a violation of appellant Hatton's civil rights under the due process of law clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That question obviously is a question of law, a question of the interpretation and application of the Constitution.”
How later courts described this case
- "The sole question which is before us, then, is whether the existence of these facts and these events constitutes a violation of appellant Hatton's civil rights under the due process of law clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That question obviously is a question of law, a question of the interpretation and application of the Constitution.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring:
I fully concur in the result reached by the majority. I write simply to express my opinion that this case should have been affirmed without an opinion because the appellant raises no infringement of a constitutional right of any kind, and to dwell on cases like this trivializes the truly important values and rights protected by the Constitution of the United States of America. That federal courts should be made a forum to challenge or second-guess everyday, mundane, ordinary, nonracial administrative decisions of the state school system demonstrates how pandering to the common cavils of public employees leads to the wasted time, expense and inconvenience of all parties. Most important, however, continued federal court intrusion in cases such as this one seriously skews the proper governmental functions of separate and distinct governmental entities which exist for separate and distinct purposes. It is for these reasons that I think we have paid far too much attention to the case before us.