Boe v. New York City Board of Education

A consent decree occurs when government officials agree to settle a case rather than fight it, and the Court "so orders" that settlement. The problem is that government officials, anxious to show good faith in fixing the problem complained about, often agree to terms that go far beyond what the law requires.

"The 1982 consent order from the Boe case controls the suspension of students from public high schools [in New York City]. The combined effect of state regulations and Boe is to impose the equivalent of an expensive formal trial whenever the city seeks to suspend a child from high school."

Source: "Schools in Handcuffs, How courts (mis)rule N.Y.C.," March 14, 2003 New York Post.

The original decree was 22 pages long, and attempts to numerate due process rights that a high school student should be given before being suspended.

Click here to read the original, 1982 decree.

Read Chancellor's Regulation A-443, incorporating the terms of the Boe decree.