Vernon Hills High School Case Study

Proponents of the language currently presented in the Vernon Hills Student handbook argue that rules must be vague in order to encompass diverse and unforeseen situations. Mr. Stilling, an administrator at Vernon Hills High School, affirmed that a flexible handbook will invariably be ambiguous (Stilling). Although this statement seems logical, it is self-defeating for Vernon Hills to hold such an attitude. What is the point in even writing a rule book if the provisions are so imprecise that nearly any behavior could be interpreted as a disciplinary infraction? In the American legal system, statutes are subject to a doctrine known as Void for Vagueness. Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland, in a famous decision, wrote, “A criminal statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must guess at its meaning and differ as to its application lacks the first essential of due process of
And while a courtroom is different from the Dean’s office, Vernon Hills High School’s disciplinary system is modeled after America’s criminal justice system in a number of important regards—administrators must notify offenders of disciplinary action, students must have a chance to present their side of the story, and so forth. Moreover, the student handbook, even if overly vague provisions were discarded, would still extremely comprehensive in its current form, with sections about bullying, illicit drug usage, sexual harassment, assault, threats, trespassing, vandalism, insubordination, theft, loitering, hazing, dishonesty, attire, excessive shows of affection, lunchroom conduct, after-school conduct, social media conduct, dance conduct, gang-related conduct, and even hanging posters around the school (Student Handbook 2). It is difficult to imagine that any truly horrible behavior wouldn’t be covered under these