Smith v. W. Va. State Board of Education

MILLER, Chief Justice:

In this original mandamus action the petitioner, George David Smith, through his parents as next friends, seeks to challenge the constitutionality of the in loco paren-tis1 doctrine generally embodied in W.Va. Code, 18A-5-1.2 He also contends that one *595of the respondents, the West Virginia State Board of Education, has failed under W.Va. Code, 18-2-5,3 to promulgate regulations in regard to administering corporal punishment to school children.

The petitioner’s constitutional claims are predicated on Section 5 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution prohibiting…