T. O., a Child, et al. v. Fort Bend Independent School District, et al.

The federal courts of appeals are divided on when and how public school students may assert federal constitutional claims alleging use of excessive force by school officials. In conflict with all other circuits, the Fifth Circuit forecloses any federal constitutional claim where state-law remedies are available and the official had a purportedly pedagogical purpose for using force. Other courts of appeals permit students to plead excessive-force claims, but are deeply divided on whether those claims arise under the Fourth or Fourteenth Amendment, or whether the standard varies depending on the factual circumstances. The circuits are also split on whether school officials are entitled to qualified immunity merely because courts disagree as to which constitutional provision is violated by a teacher’s excessive force. The decision below—in which the Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal of claims alleging that a teacher choked a first-grade student until he foamed at the mouth—implicates both circuit splits. The questions presented are:

1. Whether a public school student is barred from bringing an excessive-force claim alleging a violation of his federal constitutional rights whenever the school official has a purportedly pedagogical purpose for using force and a state-law claim is authorized.

2. Whether a public school official who violates a clearly established constitutional right of a student is nonetheless entitled to qualified immunity from suit because courts have analyzed different excessive-force violations under different constitutional provisions.