The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law) showcased its student body’s legal scholarship on Wednesday, February 21, by presenting the spring 2024 semester’s first installment of the Student Scholars Series. Wednesday’s presentation, entitled “Keep Your Hands to Yourselves: A Hands-Off Plea to Reconsider the Supreme Court’s Decision in Ingraham v. Wright,” was organized and delivered by Hope Gouterman (3L). Catholic Law lecturer Elizabeth Kirk, Co-Director of the Center for Law and the Human Person, provided the faculty response.

Focusing on the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Gouterman’s research examines it within the context of corporal punishment in schools. Referencing the Supreme Court’s decision in Ingraham v. Wright—which upheld the constitutionality of corporal punishment in schools and rejected Eighth Amendment applicability to such disciplinary action—her scholarship analyzes both the historical context of the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause, and the use of corporal punishment within U.S. public schools. Lest the Court reconsider Ingraham’s Eighth Amendment holding, her research additionally provides a stare decisis analysis, while nonetheless acknowledging the ramifications of the case itself and urging that Court reconsider the Eighth Amendment decision in Ingraham.

Elizabeth Kirk is a legal policy expert with a special interest in adoption law and policy. She has considerable experience in matters pertaining to the family in law and policy, frequently publishing and speaking to the media on such matters. Kirk joined the Catholic Law faculty after serving as the Director and Kowalski Chair of Catholic Thought at the Institute for Faith and Culture at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas. She had previously taught at Catholic Law during the 2002-2023 academic year. She holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Missouri, a law degree from the University of Notre Dame, and has done graduate studies in theology. She is also a board member of The Catholic Bar Association and the Fellowship for Catholic Scholars, and formerly served as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-Life Committee under Archbishop Joseph Naumann. More information about Kirk’s legal career is available on her faculty webpage.

Founded by longtime Catholic Law professor A. G. Harmon in 2009, the Student Scholars Series highlights legal scholarship produced by members of the Catholic Law student body during the academic year. For fifteen years it has fostered the skills associated with presenting and defending research and scholarship in a professional, conference-style setting.

Below is a recording of the February 21 program.