O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-732 (2019)

When principal or teacher not liable for administering corporal punishment

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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No principal or teacher who shall administer corporal punishment to a pupil or pupils under his care and supervision in conformity with the policies and regulations of the area, county, or independent board of education employing him and in accordance also with this subpart shall be held accountable or liable in any criminal or civil action based upon the administering of corporal punishment where the corporal punishment is administered in good faith and is not excessive or unduly severe.

History

Ga. L. 1964, p. 673, § 3.

Annotations

Cross references. Purchase of liability insurance for

school officials and employees, § 20-2-990 et seq.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Immunity applied. - When the student, the plaintiff mother’s son, repeatedly disobeyed the defendant teacher’s command to be seated, and the student first touched the teacher by forcing the teacher’s hand from a doorframe, if the teacher’s actions constituted corporal punishment rather than self defense, some corporal punishment was justified, and the fact that the teacher previously

made derogatory comments to the student or otherwise harbored ill will toward the student was not enough to evidence either actual malice or an intent to injure; thus, immunity under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-732 applied to the state law claims against the teacher. Peterson v. Baker, 504 F.3d 1331, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 24936 (11th Cir. 2007).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 6 Am. Jur. 2d, Assault and Battery, §§ 31, 97. Am. Jur. Trials. Public School Liability: Constitutional Tort Claims for Excessive Punishment and Failure to Supervise Students, 48 Am. Jur. Trials 587. C.J.S. 7 C.J.S., Assault and Battery, § 29. ALR. Right to discipline pupil for conduct away from school grounds, 41 A.L.R. 1312.

Personal liability of school authorities for dismissal or suspension of pupil, 42 A.L.R. 763. Teacher’s civil liability for administering corporal punishment to pupil, 43 A.L.R.2d 469. Criminal liability for excessive or improper punishment inflicted on child by parent, teacher, or one in loco parentis, 89 A.L.R.2d 396.

Subpart 1A Improved Student Learning Environment and Discipline Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 1999, p. 438, § 1, not codified by

the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall be known and may be cited

T.20, C.2, A.16, P.2, S.1A ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUC. as the ‘Improved Student Learning Environment and Discipline Act of 1999.’” Law reviews. For note on 1999 enactment of this

subpart, see 16 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 116 (1999).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 1985–2019 · leading case: Logue v. Wright, 392 S.E.2d 235 (Ga. 1990).

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Logue v. Wright, 392 S.E.2d 235 (Ga. 1990). · cites it 8× “The Court of Appeals acknowledged that while OCGA § 20-2-732 is generally compatible with general principles of sovereign immunity, a finding that a school official was acting within the "scope of authority" is not sufficient to determine whether the punishment was within the…”

Crews v. McQueen, 385 S.E.2d 712 (Ga. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 28× “If so, the administrator is immune from civil or criminal liability under the express terms of OCGA § 20-2-732. But before this issue is determined, the question of what actually happened is one only the jury can decide.”

Maddox v. Boutwell, 336 S.E.2d 599 (Ga. Ct. App. 1985). · cites it 2× “Appellant argued in the trial court and on appeal that Boutwell violated that guideline by administering punishment which was excessive and unduly severe and in bad faith, thereby forfeiting the immunity from civil liability granted by OCGA § 20-2-732.”

Bd. of Trs. of Georgia Military Coll. v. Rose O'Donnell (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 4× “4 Following two hearings,2 the trial court denied the motions to dismiss and for summary judgment,3 finding that OCGA §§ 20-2-732 and 20-2-1000 did not waive immunity given to educators in connection with student disciplinary action; there was a jury question as to whether the…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.