Donahoe v. Richards
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
On Exceptions from Nisi Prius, Hathaway, J., presiding. Trespass on the 'Case. This action was brought by plaintiff, through her father, as her prochein ami, against the superintending school committee to recover damages for maliciously, wrongfully and unjustifiably expelling her from one of the town schools in Ellsworth.
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On Exceptions from Nisi Prius, Hathaway, J., presiding. Trespass on the 'Case. This action was brought by plaintiff, through her father, as her prochein ami, against the superintending school committee to recover damages for maliciously, wrongfully and unjustifiably expelling her from one of the town schools in Ellsworth. The plaintiff was 15 years of age, and was expelled for refusing to read in the school, of which she was a member, the Protestant version of the English Bible, which had previously been ordered to be used therein by the defendants. The same counts were in the writ as in that…
1Opinion of the CourtAppleton, J.
— It was decided in Donahoe v. Richards, ante p. 376, that the expulsion of a minor .child from the public schools by the superintending school committee, even if wrongful, was no violation of any legal right of the parent, and would not entitle him to maintain an action therefor; that the wrong in such case is committed against the child, and that if entitled to redress, it must be sought in its name.
The present suit is by the minor, for her alleged wrongful exclusion from school in consequence of her refusal to read in one of the books directed by the defendants, who are the superintending…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Wilkes v. DinsmanSupreme Court of the United States · 1849
- Lincoln v. HapgoodMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1814
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- Stephenson v. HallNew York Supreme Court · 1852
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