READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS ! SUBJECT: CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AND THE LAW

Select 1 of the three assignments below to complete. Use case law and other readings to support your answers.

8 points (20% of grade)- These assignments should cite regularly from the outside reading materials provided (including in-text citations with page numbers in parenthesis). Answers should not only be correct but also be fairly lengthy with questions fully explored (between 4-8 pages). It is important that students show the ability to write in a manner that is cogent, well put together and also uses correct spelling and grammar.

Assignment #5

After playing dodge ball, the gym teacher asked the student to hand in the ball. The student threw the ball toward the teacher from a distance of about twenty feet but did not hit the teacher. The teacher enraged said "I'll kick the shit out of you!" lifted the child off of the ground by his neck and dragged him across the gym floor to the bleachers. He then hit the child with an open hand twice on the child's buttocks.

1. Was this a violation of the student's 8^th Amendment rights? 2. Was this a violation of the student's 14^thAmendment rights (substantive due process)?

3. Should the State be allowed to authorize corporal punishment for a student whose parents have chosen to abstain from physically punishing the child? 4. Does this interfere with the rights of parents to rear their children as they see fit?

5. Finally, many other Western countries have much lower thresholds for corporal punishment than the United States, and many countries outlaw it completely. Using the professor's writings use sociological and psychological arguments for why the US should also lower its thresholds.

Assignment #6

Duty to Protect- Nicini v. Morra

1. Is a special relationship created when the state places a child in a foster home (this is a legal question not the common use of the word "special"?
2. Is there an affirmative duty on behalf of the state to intervene and protect the child?
3. If so would this create an affirmative duty to protect the child from abuse in the foster home.
4. Under what circumstances would the state be held liable for abuse in a foster home?
5. What is the standard used by the court?

Assignment #7

Cocaine Baby-

1. The Valerie D. and Whitner courts take different approaches as to whether or not the fetus is a child with rights that should be protected. Which is the more reasoned argument?

2. How do they shake out when compared to the Roe v. Wade decisions?

3. Should recent medical advancement impact our view of over what a "child" is?

4. How might imposing criminal penalties advance the policy goals of the state?

5. What constitutional issues may arise in such a prosecution?