Ingraham Vs. Wright Case: Supreme Court Case

The Supreme Court case, Ingraham v. Wright, was a turning point along the topic of education and schooling. James Ingraham was an eighth grader in a Florida public school. James failed to answer a question fast enough and was sent to Principal Willie Wright’s office for discipline. James refused to admit to not answering a question, he was then subject to twenty strikes from a wooden paddle. James went to see his doctor about the matter and was ordered to stay out of school to recover from his injuries. The young man was prescribed ice packs, pain pills, sleeping pills and a laxative. After a week of waiting Ingraham visited a different doctor and found that his hematoma on his backside was still swollen, tender, and purplish in color
The justices who voted for the majority were Burger, Stewart, Blackmun, Rehnquist, and Powell, Powell was the justice who wrote the majority opinion. The justices who were on the dissent side were Brennan, White, Marshall, and Stevens. (oyez.org) Justice White was the person who wrote the dissent opinion. White said that nowhere in the Eighth Amendment does it say the limitations are to criminal punishment. White stated that if this amendment was meant for this, the word criminal could have been added to accomplish that meaning. White believed that the paddling of the two young boys was for punishment, and needed to be tested as a standard of the Eighth Amendment. White was clear that he did not think that corporal punishment was cruel and unusual, but that if it becomes severe enough to be “unacceptable in a civilized society..” does it become unconstitutional. A statement that White made was that “need only take a few minutes to give the student ‘notice’ of the charges against him and if he denied them, an explanation of the evidence the authorities have and an opportunity to him present his side of the story.” (nospank.net) While Justice Stevens agreed and sided with the dissent opinion of White, he had more to add. Stevens questioned whether it was consistent with some of the court’s decisions to hold that a post-deprivation state remedy
Wright court case was very influential on the way administration acted toward the children in their school. Corporal punishment was banned in Nebraska in 1988. In my opinion I believe that banning corporal punishment in Nebraska was a good choice and beneficial for students and their parents. The banning of corporal punishment would be beneficial to every family, corporal punishment can cause injuries that need medical attention. Corporal punishment being banned would stop medical bills for families due to the punishment received. Junior high and high school students can be stressed enough from their schoolwork. I believe that corporal punishment would harm the student’s mental status even farther. Class work can create a very heavy mental stress on a person. While in high school you have 8 classes that you could possibly have homework in, if you did not get work done in all of those classes and being punished was an option there would be many kids who would get this punishment. Many students also participate in sports or other extra curricular activities that give kids less time to be able to do their