An unnamed school-hearing officer from Ohio thought he was in the clear in 1997 when his criminal record was expunged of a drug trafficking conviction from 1976, clearing the way for his employment with the Cincinnati school system. But when the state required a background check two years ago for John Doe’s certification, the old conviction resurfaced and resulted in his termination. He then sued school officials, claiming his firing violated the state Constitution’s retroactivity clause and the U.S. Constitution’s ex-post-facto clause, among other claims. But the state Supreme Court voted 5-2 against Doe, saying the termination did not violate his rights under the Ohio Constitution.

 

Doe was convicted of drug trafficking in 1976 and spent three years in prison. After he was released, he earned a college degree and became a social worker and chemical dependency counselor. He has maintained a clean legal record ever since. In 1997 he began employment with the Cincinnati Public School system as a drug-free-school specialist, and in 2002 he moved up to an administrative position as hearing officer. Beginning in 2008, administrative employees in the school district were subject to background checks, and in November 2008, Doe’s 32-year-old, supposedly expunged conviction was discovered, and he lost his job.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

School Officer Can Be Fired for 1976 Crime (by Jeff Gorman, Courthouse News Service)

Laws Requiring Termination of School Employee for Pre-Employment Conviction Upheld as Constitutional (Supreme Court of Ohio)

Court Ruling (Supreme Court of Ohio) (pdf)