Baker v. Owen

Who has more authority in deciding how a child will be disciplined at school, especially when a parent's belief in how his or her child is to be disciplined is at odds with a school's disciplinary practices? What are some guidelines a school must adhere to in order to ensure that students are afforded minimal procedural due process in corporal punishment cases? Does corporal punishment constitute cruel and unusual punishment?

In Baker v. Owen (1975), the U.S. Supreme Court, in its first case addressing corporal punishment, summarily affirmed a ruling of a three-judge panel in a federal trial court in North Carolina that while parents generally have the right to choose among disciplinary practices for children, the essential responsibility of school officials to maintain discipline is ...