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Parents have always been held liable, to a certain extent for their children’s actions in the United States. Some of the early parental liability statutes provided the juvenile court system jurisdiction over parents who had “contributed to the delinquency of a minor” My father spoke often of the “Truant Officer” who spends the day looking for wayward youth and sent notice of fines to his parents.
During the past several years, parental liability laws have become much more popular due to societies fear of juvenile crime. Public support for new laws holding parents responsible for the actions of their dependent children has steadily increased since the Columbine High School shootings.
In the lead California passed The Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act of 1988 which this legislation holds parents or legal guardians criminally liable when they haven’t exercised “reasonable care, supervision, protection, and control over the minor child“. The parent’s punishments can include citations for a misdemeanor, fines and even jail for as long as a year or probation for five years.
Several other states have passed similar laws and as many as half of the states in the U.S. now have tighter parental responsibility and liability ordinances.
Cities, counties and parishes have also enacted laws and ordinances holding parents responsible for example In 1994, St Clair Shoes Michigan added a “Parental Responsibility Ordinance” which fines parents up to $100 for failing to control their children’s actions or seek professional assistance. Shortly thereafter other towns started doing the same. Where these ordinances have been enforced parents typically choose to settle case out of court.
This trend is not only happening in the United States but also in Canada, and many of these laws may be found unconstitutional in the US or in violation of the Charter in Canada. The argument being these laws punish the parents for their children’s actions. In some cases, the laws aren’t about parental negligence, but based on the fact parents are responsible for a child and the child has committed a crime or caused damage.
How do You feel about Parental Liability?
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