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Answer
In order for Duquesne University to be held responsible for violating the constitutional
rights of Smith, the courts must find that the institution was acting as a government or public
party. The courts through legal precedent have established that the Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments are basically the same in terms of requirements to establish both the state action
requirement and the under color of state law requirements. There are only two commonly
used approaches used by the United States Supreme Court to test the validity of whether state
action exists, the overall interdependence or symbiotic relationship test and the close
nexus test (Alexander & Alexander, 2010, p. 149). These tests are used to determine whether
there is a public function being performed in conjunction with a private entity or there is in fact a
symbiotic relationship between the private party and the state that substantially proves there is
direct involvement by the government. In this case, the court found in favor of the defendant and
indeed ruled for summary judgment. The court could not find any evidence that the University
was in any way acting otherwise than a private institution carrying out school policies and
bylaws.
Reasoning of the Court
In reviewing the facts in this case, the court found no existence of public influence or
state action between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Duquesne University. There was
no statutory relationship, no participation in management of the University, and no requirements
for the school to report expenditures or financial reports to the state. The administration of the
University had no public members or state representatives serving in any capacity. The funds
received from the state were a very minimal part of the overall funding received by the
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References
Alexander, K., & Alexander, K. (2010-12-14). Higher education law: Policy and perspectives.
New York, NY: Routledge. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.