Perez v. Univ of Charleston ( 1999 )


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  • UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    PATRICIO PEREZ,
    Plaintiff-Appellant,
    v.                                                                     No. 99-1745
    THE UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON,
    Defendant-Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the District of South Carolina, at Charleston.
    Patrick Michael Duffy, District Judge.
    (CA-98-2055-2-11)
    Submitted: October 8, 1999
    Decided: November 9, 1999
    Before WILLIAMS and KING, Circuit Judges,
    and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.
    _________________________________________________________________
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    _________________________________________________________________
    COUNSEL
    Dale L. DuTremble, Charleston, South Carolina; Derk B. K. Van
    Raalte, IV, North Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellant. John K.
    Blincow, Jr., Joseph C. Wilson, IV, W. Mullins McLeod, Jr., HOOD
    LAW FIRM, L.L.C., Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellee.
    _________________________________________________________________
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
    Local Rule 36(c).
    _________________________________________________________________
    OPINION
    PER CURIAM:
    Patricio Perez appeals the district court's judgment granting sum-
    mary judgment to the University of Charleston (the"University") and
    dismissing his civil rights complaint. Perez claimed that the Univer-
    sity denied him the right to due process under the Fourteenth Amend-
    ment by not providing him a pre-deprivation hearing before he was
    assigned a grade of "F" for three courses and denied access to his
    transcript for failing to pay tuition. Perez also claimed that the post-
    deprivation process was not meaningful because it took two years
    until he received the relief he sought. Finding no reversible error, we
    affirm.
    We review a district court's decision to grant summary judgment
    de novo. See Higgins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 
    863 F.2d 1162
    , 1167 (4th Cir. 1988). Summary judgment is appropriate only
    "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admis-
    sions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no
    genuine issue as to any material fact." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Celotex
    Corp. v. Catrett, 
    477 U.S. 317
    , 322 (1986).
    Under the Fourteenth Amendment, no State "shall . . . deprive any
    person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." U.S.
    Const. amend. XIV, § 1. Assuming without deciding that Perez had
    a property interest in his grades and the transcript, see Regents of
    Univ. of Mich. v. Ewing, 
    474 U.S. 214
    , 222-23 (1985); Board of
    Curators of Univ. of Mo. v. Horowitz, 
    435 U.S. 78
    , 84-85 (1978), we
    find that he received notice before assignment of the grades that he
    must officially withdraw from classes he did not expect to attend.
    Clearly, he was provided with a meaningful opportunity to notify the
    University that he was withdrawing from classes.
    We also find that he was provided with adequate post-deprivation
    opportunities to have his grades changed and to have access to his
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    transcript. See Lane Hollow Coal Co. v. DOWCP , 
    137 F.3d 799
    , 806
    (4th Cir. 1998). There is nothing in the record to indicate that his ini-
    tial appeals to his professors and to the Dean of Graduate Studies
    were not carefully and deliberately reviewed. See Horowitz, 
    435 U.S. at 85
    .
    Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court. We dis-
    pense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
    adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument
    would not aid the decisional process.
    AFFIRMED
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