# P.B. v. Koch

> Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · September 27, 1996 · 96 F.3d 1298

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6942236

## Case

- **Full name:** P.B., on her own behalf and on behalf of N.B., a minor S.G., on her own behalf and on behalf of L.G., a minor C.D., on her own behalf and on behalf of D.D. v. Alfred KOCH, Principal of Preston High School, and Scott Beckstead Mary Jo Roberts George Wilcox Orson Bowler
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- **Decided:** September 27, 1996
- **Citations:** 96 F.3d 1298; 96 Daily Journal DAR 11891; 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7235; 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 25256; 1996 WL 547829
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Rymer
- **Judges:** Fletcher, Noonan, Rymer
- **Cited by:** 76 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6942236

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- stating that principal who physically assaulted students violated their clearly established constitutional rights, but noting that “for purposes of resolving this qualified immunity appeal, we need not and do not resolve the question of whether the Fourth Amendment, rather tha…
- holding that, “[r]egardless of the appropriate ‘home’ for plaintiffs’ right to be free from excessive force, there was a clearly established right to be free such force” because “[u]nder any standard, [the defendant’s] alleged actions were clearly unlawful.”
- holding that when there is no disciplinary need to use force against a student, “one can reasonably infer” that the violent actions were taken “not in good faith but for the purpose of causing harm”
- holding that, when there was a claim of excessive force on the part of a school principal, the district court’s denial of qualified immunity on summary judgment was appealable immediately
- holding that “pain, bruising, and emotional injury” provide the basis for a substantive due process claim when a school official acts maliciously and without any disciplinary purpose

## Opinion text

RYMER, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the judgment because there is little doubt that, by 1990,. the contours of a student’s right to be free from the violations of bodily integrity alleged in this ease were clearly established. The district court therefore correctly denied Koch’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that he was entitled to qualified immunity. Beyond that we cannot go, since the district court found (in resolving an earlier round of summary judgment motions) that there are genuine issues of material fact as to the need for corporal punishment, amount of force, extent of injury, and the reason for the force being applied to each of the students. Johnson v. Jones, - U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 2151 , 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6942236. Public record. Not legal advice.