By: Alison Palmeri, Staff Writer
Should parents be punished for the crimes of their minor children? If Anthony Pasquale has anything to say about it, yes.
In 2012, Pasquale’s 12-year-old daughter, Autumn, was strangled by her neighbor, 15-year-old Justin Robinson. Pasquale believes that had Robinson, who was diagnosed with mental and emotional challenges, been more closely supervised by his parents; Autumn would still be alive today.
Pasquale has taken his cause to Change.org and the New Jersey Legislature and is advocating for “Autumn’s Law” which, in part, reads:
“Parents/guardians who neglect, abuse, abandon or ignore the warning signs of their children’s propensity toward violence are direct contributors to their minor children’s murders.”[i]
The petition will be delivered to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the New Jersey State Senate when 20,000 signatures accompany the petition. Currently, the petition is lacking 8,117 signatures.
What Pasquale is ultimately asking for is a law that makes parents “criminally responsible for murders committed by their minor children, when they know or should have known the propensity toward violence existed.”[ii]
While there may be some popular support, so far the law does not favor this approach. Although parents are obligated to care for their children, tort law does not mandate that they control their children’s every action.
According to Naomi Cahn, a family law professor at George Washington University, “unless you can show that a parent forced or encouraged the child to commit the crime, courts don’t blame parents.”[iii]
The most high-profile cases advocating for legal ramifications on “bad parenting” began in the late 1990s after several school shootings occurred over a handful of years. Most notably, following Columbine there was widespread support for parental blame and polls immediately following the shooting showed that 85% of Americans held the shooter’s parents responsible for their children’s actions.[iv]
Even with significant poll numbers supporting criminal liability for parents, the passing of Autumn’s Law will likely have adverse effects on society as a whole. Pasquale’s efforts in the wake of his daughter’s tragic death are warranted but the petition has the potential to aide to the social epidemic of shifting the blame. It is time for individuals to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than utilizing the legal system to maneuver a transfer of responsibility.
Regardless of parenting styles and awareness of “warning signs,” many other factors contribute to shaping a person. At some point, diligent childrearing is not enough. Encouraging parents to watch their children’s every move is going to create a sheltered culture where minors are not allowed to make even harmless mistakes. Further, parents who cannot financially support their children’s extra medical services would likely be the largest population of parents serving time for their children’s actions.
In recent years, the trend toward “helicopter parenting,” (where parents are expected to be hyper-aware of their children’s action) has led to an increase in civil case filings against the parents of children that have committed crimes. In most cases a settlement agreement is reached. The success in past civil cases will contribute to continued societal desires to hold parents liable for their children’s actions.
[i] Pasquale, Anthony. “Petition to Chris Christie ‘Autumn’s Law’ – Hold Abusive/Neglectful Parents Accountable.” http://www.change.org/p/autumn-s-law-hold-abusive-neglectful-parents-accountable
[ii]Id.
[iii] Belkin, Lisa. “Is It A Crime To Raise A Killer?” Yahoo News. 12 September 2014 < http://news.yahoo.com/is-it-a-crime-to-raise-a-killer–190558283.html>.
[iv] Belkin, Lisa. “Do We Blame the Columbine Parents?” Motherlode. 20 April 2009 <http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/do-we-blame-the-columbine-parents/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1>.
