# Do some courts/schools interpret "corporal punishment" as a form of assault/battery?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-courts-schools-interpret-corporal-punishment-as-a-form-of-assault-battery/287692>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 1, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-courts-schools-interpret-corporal-punishment-as-a-form-of-assault-battery/287692 "2005-02-01T00:31:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-courts-schools-interpret-corporal-punishment-as-a-form-of-assault-battery/287692/1 "2005-02-01T00:31:21Z")

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[Note to posters: Let’s keep this GQ worthy: No debates or heated rhetoric.]  
I recently learned corporate punishment still exists in certain US school districts, although the trend is clearly on the down slope.

How can corporal punishment still exist in such a litigious society as ours? Have any courts/school systems ruled corporal punishment tantamount to assault/battery? Does it continue to be employed today because courts grant wide latitude to educators? Any challenges at the federal level?