C.S. v. Jackson

PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS Harold Blankenship is a high-school band director, and Louie Fryer is a high-school principal. They are defendants in an action filed by C.S., a minor, through her mother. C.S. is a student at the school where the defendants Blankenship and Fryer work. The action seeks damages on the theory that Blankenship and Fryer should have prevented C.S. from leaving the school campus with a 19-year-old man who subsequently engaged in sexual intercourse with her. Blankenship and Fryer moved for a summary judgment on the ground that supervision of a student falls within the doctrine of discretionary immunity. The trial court denied the motion for summary judgment. Blankenship and Fryer now seek a writ of mandamus from this Court directing the Elmore Circuit Court to grant their motion for summary judgment--they contend that they are entitled to a judgment based on the doctrine of discretionary immunity. The standard governing our review of an issue presented in a petition for a writ of mandamus is well established: