Boston College International and Comparative Law Review Volume 8 | Issue 1 Article 3 12-1-1985 Corporal Punishment in the United Kingdom and the United States: Violation of Human Rights or Legitimate State Action? William J. Mlyniec Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr Part of the Human Rights Law Commons Recommended Citation William J. Mlyniec, Corporal Punishment in the United Kingdom and the United States: Violation of Human Rights or Legitimate State Action?, 8 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 39 (1985), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr/vol8/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College International and Comparative Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Corporal Punishment in the United Kingdom and the United States: Violation of Human Rights or Legitimate State Action? By Wallace]. Mlyniec*t I. INTRODUCTION Corporal punishment has been part of the literary, religious, and political fabric of Anglo-American society since its earliest organization.1 Children and adults who behaved contrary to the wishes oftheir superiors, as well as those who violated the law, often suffered physical pain for their transgressions. Although laws developed which prohibited the severe beating of wards, servants, and other persons of inferior status, the state reserved to itself