Title: DEAL BY AND THROUGH BARBER v. Hill
Citation: 619 So. 2d 1347
Docket Number: 1911089
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: April 9, 1993

619 So. 2d 1347 (1993)
Brandy K. DEAL, a minor, By and Through her mother and next friend, Melissa BARBER
v.
Eddie HILL.
1911089.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
April 9, 1993.
Frank J. Tipler, Jr., James Harvey Tipler and D. Milburn Gross, Jr. of Tipler and Tipler, Andalusia, for appellant.
W. Sidney Fuller, Andalusia, for appellee.
ALMON, Justice.
Brandy K. Deal, a minor, by and through her mother and next friend, Melissa Barber, filed a complaint alleging assault and battery against the City of Opp, Alabama, the City of Opp Board of Education, Caroline Henderson a/k/a Connie Henderson, and Eddie Hill. The court entered a summary judgment for Hill and, pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala.R.Civ.P., made that judgment final. This appeal concerns only the judgment for Hill.
Deal gave the following affidavit:
Hill, in his affidavit, denied imposing on Brandy Deal any punishment, authorizing anyone else to do so, or taking any part in the matter. The only other evidence submitted on the summary judgment motion was the deposition of a psychologist who treated Deal after the incident.
In Suits v. Glover, 260 Ala. 449, 71 So. 2d 49 (1954), this Court affirmed a judgment on a verdict for the defendant schoolteacher in an action alleging assault and battery arising out of a school spanking. The Court held as follows:
260 Ala. at 450, 71 So. 2d  at 50 (citations omitted).
In Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651, 97 S. Ct. 1401, 51 L. Ed. 2d 711 (1977), the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment does not apply to traditional corporal punishment of students. The Court held that the student has a liberty interest under the Fourteenth Amendment, but that "the Fourteenth Amendment's requirement of procedural due process is satisfied by Florida's preservation of common-law constraints and remedies," 430 U.S.  at 683, 97 S. Ct.  at 1419.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Ingraham has been followed by a Federal district court in Alabama:
"* However, even if Pringle's failure to follow board policy on corporal punishment did state a cognizable federal claim, the failure to follow the policy would be a violation without an injury, at least, as to Shawn Hale. The failure of Pringle to spank Shawn in the principal's office and with another adult present in no manner detracted from the fact that Shawn deserved the spanking and the further fact that the spanking was inflicted in a reasonable manner."
Hale v. Pringle, 562 F. Supp. 598, 601-02 (M.D.Ala.1983).
Thus, the holding in Suits v. Glover that a teacher may punish a student unless he "inflict[s] on the child immoderate chastisement... with legal malice or wicked motives or ... inflict[s] some permanent injury," 260 Ala. at 450, 71 So. 2d  at 50, is the applicable law. The evidence before us has no tendency to show that Hill violated the Suits v. Glover standard.
Deal argues that her evidence presents a fact question as to whether Hill can be liable for conspiracy to commit assault, citing instruction 5.03, Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions (Civil), which comes within the topic of "Assault and Battery" and is entitled "Joint LiabilityConspiracy." It includes:
The pattern jury instruction cites several cases, of which Abney v. Mize, 155 Ala. 391, 46 So. 230 (1908), is directly on point regarding conspiracy to commit assault. The Court in Abney approved the following instruction:
Hill points out that Deal did not include a count alleging conspiracy in her complaint. Even assuming the complaint to state a cause of action for conspiracy, and even assuming that Henderson's acts might possibly have violated the Suits v. Glover standard, Deal's affidavit does not present sufficient evidence to withstand the summary judgment motion. At most, her evidence shows that Hill failed to override Henderson's already formed intention of punishing Deal. He was not Henderson's supervisor, and there is no evidence that he had authority to instruct her not to punish Deal. Deal states in her affidavit that Hill gave Henderson the pointer after Henderson said she was going to paddle Deal, but this statement is not substantial evidence that Hill entered into a conspiracy with Henderson to "inflict on [Deal] immoderate chastisement." Suits v. Glover, supra.
AFFIRMED.
HORNSBY, C.J., and ADAMS, STEAGALL and INGRAM, JJ., concur.