U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point
Long Island Press archives
Two cadets at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point have sued the academy and federal officials, alleging procedural errors and due-process violations.
The cadets, Marina Ronzoni and Morgan Mitchell, say they were punished more harshly than other students after being accused of lying about underage drinking in 2024.
Ronzoni and Mitchell were scheduled to graduate with the class of 2026.
Efforts to reach the academy have been unavailing.
The cadets say the academy’s honor board initially ordered them to complete a 45-day honor remediation program and 50 hours of extra duty.
After they appealed and appeared before a new board, the acting superintendent imposed a one-year “setback,” meaning they would not be eligible to graduate until 2027, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says the academy failed to follow its own rules during disciplinary proceedings and retaliated against the cadets for appealing its first decision.
It alleges midshipmen who admitted drinking after initially lying received less severe penalties, and that Ronzoni and Mitchell were the only students who had to undergo a second honor board, which the plaintiffs say suggests discriminatory punishment.
Ronzoni and Mitchell have supplied written statements from other cadets saying they were not drinking and spent most of the outing playing volleyball.
The lawsuit also has conflicting witness accounts—some other witnesses allege seeing drinking and say Ronzoni collected phones to hide it, a charge she denies, saying she gathered phones to encourage community.
In a December letter to Mitchell, Capt. Anthony J. Ceraolo, the academy’s acting superintendent, wrote that Mitchell had received a fair hearing, that two separate honor boards “unanimously found you in violation of the Honor Code based upon a preponderance of the evidence presented,” and that she had multiple opportunities to present her case.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and a review of the agency’s actions under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The case is currently pending in federal court in the Eastern District of New York, and the academy has not publicly altered the penalties cited in the complaint.