Garcia v. Miera

817 F.2d 650 (1987)

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Garcia v. Miera

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
817 F.2d 650 (1987)

Facts

Teresa Garcia (plaintiff) was a third-grader at Penasco Elementary School. After Garcia hit a boy who had kicked Garcia, school principal Theresa Miera (defendant) summoned Garcia to her office. Miera had another teacher hold Garcia in the air by Garcia’s ankles while Miera paddled the front of Garcia’s legs. The beating left Garcia bleeding, welted, and permanently physically scarred. Garcia’s parents then told Miera not to spank Garcia again without advance notice. A few months later, Miera again summoned Garcia to her office to punish Garcia for gossiping about a teacher’s potential romantic involvement with the father of a student. While resisting Miera and a teacher’s attempts to paddle her, Garcia suffered a back injury. Miera and the other teacher eventually subdued Garcia and paddled her. Garcia was left with bruises that a doctor described as inconsistent with a routine spanking and that a nurse said would have led her to call child protective services had the bruises been received at home. Garcia, through her parents, sued Miera under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of Garcia’s substantive-due-process rights. The district court granted Miera’s motion for summary judgment, and Garcia appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Logan, J.)

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