A Jackson, Mississippi, high school basketball coach is accused of whipping students for "failing to run basketball plays correctly," according to a federal lawsuit filed this week by three students.
Coach Marlon Dorsey acknowledged he "paddled" students, but he defended it as a way to "save these young men from the destruction of self," the court filing said.A school district spokeswoman and its attorney would not confirm whether Dorsey has been suspended, but he has not shown up to teach or coach at Murrah High School in recent days, according to the students' lawyer. The suspension was apparently for 28 days without pay, attorney Lisa Ross said.Dorsey is still employed with the district, spokeswoman Peggy Hampton said late Thursday afternoon.The students are still attending classes and are playing on the boy's varsity basketball team, Ross said.One senior was whipped "daily and sometimes more than once daily by striking him three times across his buttocks each time" with a "five to ten pound weight belt," the suit said.
