The state Appellate Division found that a Long Island father's spanking of his 8-year-old son was "reasonable use of force," in ruling on July 16.
Last year, a Suffolk County Family Court judge had determined that the father had abused his son "by inflicting excessive corporal punishment."
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It was alleged that the father spanked the child with an open hand as punishment for cursing while they were at a party at a friend's home in 2012, according to the appeals court.