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Court examines whether instructional techniques of special ed teacher constituted violation of law

In Domingo v. Kowalski, the Sixth Circuit analyzed whether several special ed children could maintain a cause of action against their teacher.  The teacher had used techniques like "gagging" a student to stop him from spitting; strapping a child to the toilet to keep her from falling; and forcing another child to drop her pants in full view of the remainder of the class to assist in toilet-training. The Court concluded that the criticized actions, while inappropriate, indicated a "clear educational or disciplinary motive..." were "not excessive"...were taken "in good faith..." and "not so brutal, demeaning or harmful as to shock the conscience."  Therefore, they were not Constitutional violations of due process and not actionable under section 1983.

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