Univ. Sys. of Geor. v. Drake

904 S.E.2d 37

BOARD OF REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA

v.DRAKE.

A24A0321

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

June 27, 2024

Christopher Michael Carr, Bryan Keith Webb, Russell D. Willard, Atlanta, Elizabeth T. Young, for Appellant.

Michael J. Bowers, Lucas Van Boggs Sr., for Appellee.

Watkins, Judge.

Following an off-campus altercation, the University of Georgia ("UGA") suspended Elijah Drake, a student at the school. The superior court granted Drake’s petition for writ of certiorari, reversed his suspension, and nullified certain provisions of UGA’s code of conduct. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia ("BOR") appeals, arguing that: (1) the decision was not a final, quasi-judicial decision that was subject to certiorari review; (2) the superior court erred by exercising jurisdiction over an academic decision; and (3) even if the matter came within the superior court’s certiorari jurisdiction, the court erred by declaring the Conduct Regulations to be entirely void. We conclude that the superior court had jurisdiction to consider this petition. While we agree with the superior court’s conclusion that UGA’s Hearing Panel did not properly consider Drake’s self-defense claims, the correct remedy was to remand to the Hearing Panel for reconsideration of that issue. Accordingly, we vacate and remand with direction.

[1, 2] On certiorari review of a lower tribunal’s ruling, the superior court’s "scope of review shall be limited to all errors of law and determination as to whether the judgment or ruling below was sustained by substantial evidence."¹ "On appeal, this Court’s duty is not to review whether the record supports the superior court’s decision; instead, we must determine whether the record supports the decision of the lower tribunal."² We review questions of law de novo.³

So viewed, the record shows that UGA initiated disciplinary proceedings against Drake after he had a physical altercation with another UGA student, Caitlin Bargouti, at an off-campus bar. UGA later initiated disciplinary proceedings against Bargouti for the same incident. A UGA investigator interviewed Bargouti, Drake, and other witnesses to get their accounts of the encounter; it appears to have started as a playful exchange and then escalated into physical violence.

UGA’s Office of Student Conduct investigated Drake for possessing false identification, drinking underage, endangering the health or safety of another person and engaging in disorderly conduct caused by intoxication. Drake later admitted to the fake ID and underage drinking violations. As to the other two charges, UGA’s Code of Conduct provided that the following actions are prohibited:

Conduct Regulation 3.3 — Conduct that threatens or endangers the health or safety of another person, including but not limited to physical violence, abuse, intimidation, and/or coercion; or violation of a legal protective order.

Conduct Regulation 4.3 — Disruptive or disorderly conduct caused by the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs.

As to Bargouti, UGA’s Office of Student Conduct investigated her for endangering the health or safety of another person and malicious or unwarranted damage to property.

UGA’s Hearing Panel held a joint hearing on the charges against Drake and Bargouti. As to Bargouti, the Panel concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that Bargouti had threatened Drake. With respect to Drake, however, the Panel concluded that Drake had violated all four provisions of the Code of Conduct. Significantly, the Panel found that the Code of Conduct did not allow for a self-defense claim:

While Mr. Drake stated … that his actions were motivated by self-defense[,] the Panel concluded that self-defense was insufficient for Mr. Drake’s actions towards Ms. Bargouti since the Code of Conduct does not include verbiage related to self[-]defense. Regardless of the intent Mr. Drake had for his action of taking Ms. Bargouti to the ground and restraining her, the Panel found the physical act towards Ms. Bargouti constituted conduct that threatened her health and safety by resulting in injuries stated above.

Among other sanctions, the Panel suspended Drake from UGA through the end of the Fall 2022 semester.

Drake appealed the decision to UGA’s Vice President of Student Affairs, who upheld the Panel’s decision. The Vice President noted that Drake’s "claims of self-defense, [assertion that Bargouti removed his eyeglasses], and past or future risk may be considered as potential mitigating factors but do not excuse your actions in any way under our Code of Conduct." Drake then appealed to UGA’s President, who also upheld the Panel’s decision. Drake filed for discretionary review to the BOR, and the BOR upheld UGA’s decision.

Drake filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the superior court. The superior court granted the petition, reversed his suspension, and nullified rules 3.3 and 4.3 of UGA’s Code of Conduct. The court reasoned that the conduct rules "necessarily" prohibited claims of self-defense permitted under OCGA § 16-21-3 and were thus void. We granted the BOR’s application for discretionary review, and this appeal followed.

[3] 1. The BOR raises a claim of sovereign immunity, arguing that judicial review was not available to Drake because the Hearing Panel’s decision to sanction him was not a final, quasi-judicial decision such that it was subject to certiorari review.

[4] The writ of certiorari is available for the correction of errors committed by a person who was acting in a quasi-judicial capacity.⁴ However, the writ of certiorari will not lie from the exercise of "only an executive or administrative power[.]"⁵ The BOR contends that the Panel’s decision was administrative rather than quasi-judicial.

[5] There are three essential characteristics of a quasi-judicial act:

First, a quasi-judicial act is one as to which all parties are as a matter of right entitled to notice and to a hearing, with the opportunity afforded to present evidence under judicial forms of procedure. Second, a quasi-judicial act is one that requires a decisional process that is judicial in nature, involving an ascertainment of the relevant facts from evidence presented and an application of preexisting legal standards to those facts. Third, a quasi-judicial decision reviewable by writ of certiorari is one thatis final, binding, and conclusive of the rights of the interested parties.⁶

In its appellate brief, the BOR argues that neither the second prong, that there was a judicial decisional process, nor the third prong, that the decision was final, was satisfied in this case. However, the BOR conceded before the superior court that the first two prongs were satisfied; thus, on appeal we focus only on the third prong — the finality of the decision.⁷

The BOR contends that the decision by the Hearing Panel was not final, binding, and conclusive because the Vice President, President, or BOR could have overturned the Panel’s decision. But the possibility of an appeal did not render the Hearing Panel’s decision non-final.⁸ Both the Panel’s decision and UGA’s Code of Conduct indicated that Drake "may" appeal within five days, but "[t]he purpose of appeal procedures [was] to provide the student with the opportunity to bring forward questions regarding substantive or procedural errors that occurred during the process. The appeal process [was] not intended to grant a new hearing at a higher level." Thus, absent an appeal, the decision of the Hearing Panel was final, binding, and conclusive, such that the decision was quasi-judicial.⁹ Accordingly, review properly fell within the ambit of the superior court’s certiorari jurisdiction.

[6] 2. The BOR also argues that the Panel’s decision was an academic decision and was, therefore, a non-justiciable controversy. We disagree and conclude that the decision was subject to certiorari proceedings.

[7, 8] "It is well settled that disputes concerning academic decisions made by public institutions of learning present no justiciable controversy."¹⁰ This doctrine

stems from confidence that school authorities are able to discharge their academic duties in fairness and with competence. It is born alike of the necessity for shielding the courts from an incalculable new potential for lawsuits[; i]t protects every teacher from the cost and agony of litigation initiated by pupils and their parents who would rely upon the legal process rather than the learning process. It protects every school system — all of them laboring under pressures of financing, personnel problems and student discipline, academic performance, taxpayer revolt and patron unrest … from an added and unbearable burden of continuous legal turmoil.¹¹

Accordingly, "unless a deprivation of major proportion" is at issue, the superior court must defer to the university’s disciplinary decision.¹²

The BOR argues that Board of Regents of University System of Georgia v. Houston controls here. In Houston, we held that Georgia Tech’s decision to suspend a student and revoke his membership to the varsity football team due to the student’s admitted participation in a drug sale was not a deprivation of major proportion.¹³ In our opinion, we emphasized that the student "suffered no deprivation of constitutional or statutory rights."¹⁴

In this case, however, Drake alleged that UGA violated his rights under OCGA § 16-3-21 (c), which provides: "Any rule, regulation, or policy of any agency of the state or any ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, or policy of any county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state which is in conflict with this Code section [on self-defense] shall be null, void, and of no force and effect." Given the scope of this provision, and because Drake is correct that UGA violated his rights under OCGA § 16-3-21 (c), as explained in Division 3 below, "a deprivation of major proportion" was at issue in this proceeding.¹⁵ Thus, the superior court was presented...