Lawfulness of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home. The Juvenile Justice Law provides for “reasonable” corporal punishment by parents. Subsection 20 of section 45.0103 defines “normal parental discipline” as “all actions by parents, such as administration of blows by hand, strap, or light switch upon the buttocks, or any firm handling, scolding or light taps, insufficient to seriously bruise or produce medical injury or disability”. Under subsection 18, legal custody of a child entails the duty to discipline. According to section 45.0361, this duty applies to “any individual, agency, or institution vested by the court with legal custody of a child”. The Juvenile Justice Law also covers child abuse (section 45.2001) but states that in investigating reports of child abuse “accepted child rearing practices of the culture” must be taken into account, and nothing contained in the child abuse provisions “refers to acts which could be construed to be a reasonable exercise of parental discipline as defined in subsection (20) of 45.0103”. Under section 46.3311 of the Criminal Law, the use of force is permitted “to promote the welfare of a minor” or “to maintain reasonable discipline in a school, class or other group”. This applies to “a parent, guardian, or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor” and to “a teacher or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor for a special purpose”. The force used should not risk “causing death, serious physical injury, disfigurement, extreme pain, or extreme emotional distress”.

Children have limited protection from violence and abuse under provisions in the Criminal Justice Law on assault (sections 46.3520, 46.3521 and 46.3522) and on endangerment and abuse (sections 46.3810 and 46.3811).

Schools

Corporal punishment is lawful in schools under the provision for “reasonable discipline” in the Criminal Law, section 46.3311 (see above). It was prohibited in public schools by Education Department policy in 1998.

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. Article I (Bill of Rights), section 6 of the Constitution prohibits “cruel or unusual punishments”, and corporal punishment is not a permitted punishment for crime under the Criminal Justice Law.

Corporal punishment is not a listed disciplinary measure in prisons under the Criminal Justice Law, but there would appear to be no explicit prohibition of all corporal punishment in penal institutions for young offenders. Section 46.3311 states that “a warden or other authorized official of a jail, prison, or correctional facility may, in order to maintain order and discipline, use whatever physical force, is authorized by law, including deadly force”.

Alternative care

Corporal punishment is lawful in other institutions and forms of childcare under section 45.0361 of the Juvenile Justice Law applying to those with legal custody of the child (see above).

Workplace

No information.

Prevalence research

None identified.

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

The US has signed but not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.