Dive Brief:
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The U.S. Supreme Court refused this week to hear a case on corporal punishment in schools that questioned whether parents could sue schools under the U.S. Constitution, in addition to receiving a remedy from the state, if they believe their child's civil rights were violated by the controversial practice.
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The case arose after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided an 11-year-old Louisiana student with nonverbal autism — whose parents alleged she was slapped on the wrists in three separate incidents — could not sue her public school in federal court as long as the state provided a remedy after use of physical punishment.
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The 5th Circuit's decision conflicts with precedent in nine other federal appellate courts, which have decided that excessive corporal punishment by public school employees can be tried under federal law, the plaintiffs said in their petition to the Supreme Court. The lower courts disagree on whether such cases should proceed under the Fourth or 14th Amendments, a question the high court has also left unresolved.
Dive Insight:
Had the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, it would not have decided on the constitutionality of corporal punishment in schools. That was allowed by the Supreme Court in a 1977 case, Ingraham v. Wright.
Rather, the Supreme Court could have ruled on whether and how students and parents can sue schools for the practice under federal civil rights law.
Still, the use of corporal punishment in schools continues to worry educators and special education experts, and the Supreme Court's decision to not hear the case comes as educators report an increase in challenging behavior in students.
Last March, the U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote a letter to states and districts exhorting schools to "treat students with dignity and respect." Cardona said practices like spanking, hitting or paddling students should be replaced by evidence-based approaches to addressing challenging behaviors.
In August, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for an end to the practice through legislation.
According to the U.S. Education Department, 27 states and the District of Columbia banned corporal punishment as of March 2023, while 23 states allowed it. Louisiana banned corporal punishment in schools, unless parents provide written permission, as of August 2023.
It's also possible to ban corporal punishment locally through school board policy. In Kentucky, for example, all districts have banned the practice but the state still allows it.
Education Department data shows the majority of students who received corporal punishment were in the South: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas. The latter two fall under the 5th Circuit, which held that parents in the Louisiana case could not file a civil rights lawsuit.
The Supreme Court declined without comment to hear the 5th Circuit corporal punishment case, S.B. v. Jefferson Parish School Board, in a list of orders issued Jan. 8.
Last year, the Supreme Court heard another case related to pathways available to parents and special needs students seeking to pursue damages against school districts.
In a rare unanimous decision, the bench said that individuals who have entered into a settlement resolving their Individuals with Disabilities Education Act claims can also pursue monetary damages against the school district under the Americans with Disabilities Act without first exhausting the administrative process under IDEA.
The decision in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools was celebrated by special education advocates as a victory for students' civil rights. The ruling, others said, could put districts that have violated free appropriate public education in hot water under two laws, rather than just IDEA.
The Louisiana case on corporal punishment, however, adds to a list of education-related cases declined by the Supreme Court during the current term.
On the first day of its term last October, the court rejected at least six cases brought against various public school entities. Those cases included one against the Colorado State Board of Education on whether a charter organization can request judicial review of school boards' decisions to reject a charter application under state law, and another questioning whether Minneapolis Public Schools violated ADA when firing an elementary school dean who sought accommodations for his asthma.
