Although it would be a mistake to conclude that the rights of students had their origins exclusively in decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, it is only fair to note that the Court required the application of due process standards to student discipline in U.S. public schools. The starting point was Goss v. Lopez (1975), in which the Supreme Court required, even for a short-term suspension, that a student be informed of accusations against him or her, be given an opportunity to respond, and, on denying the accusation, be informed of the evidence of guilt. For longer suspensions, or expulsions, the Supreme Court required even more formal due process hearings.

However, two years later, in Ingraham v. Wright (1977), the Supreme Court refused to require due process hearings prior to the imposition of corporal punishment and held that the corporal punishment of schoolchildren does not represent...