The South Dakota House supports a measure that allows university students to take some grievances to court.
The bill doesn’t allow students to sue a professor over grades, but it does give student the right to begin litigation against a university in residency disputes and disciplinary actions.
Democratic Representative Kevin Killer says the restrictions that prohibit students from seeking due process in a court of law are unconstitutional.
“The current exemption eliminates the rights to students to obtain judicial review of disciplinary or residency decisions – which presents a constitutional problem. In a court case, The South Dakota Supreme Court, affirmed that due process standards of the South Dakota Constitution requires that a party to an administrative proceeding be entitled to an appeal to the circuit court,” says Killer.
No one spoke against the bill on the House floor. It passed unanimously. It goes next to the State Senate.