Daily v. Board of Education

I. INTRODUCTION

The Legislature, in 1988, mandated that “[c]orporal punishment shall be prohibited in public schools.” Neb. Rev. Stat. § 79-295 (Reissue 1996). In die context of a disputed teacher-discipline case, we must determine whether “corporal punishment” is a term that is commonly used and understood, such that a person of ordinary sensibilities and intelligence should be capable of ascertaining its meaning and abiding by its proscriptions. For the reasons that follow, we determine that “corporal punishment” is a term that is commonly understood to be the infliction of bodily pain as a…