Yvonne Abraham’s column accusing attorney Tracy Miner of criminal parenting shows naiveté about parenting and the criminal justice system (“Close call that shouldn’t be,” Metro, Jan. 27). Keeping teens safe is not as easy as it sounds. Teens are separating from their parents. When they or their friends engage in risky behavior, they don’t usually tell their parents, especially if their parents will disapprove. Loving parents who are law-abiding citizens and who do not permit their children to drink alcohol get duped all the time.
That is why Massachusetts law limits criminal social host liability to people who knowingly allow underage drinking in their homes. The requirement of proof of wrongful intent is the reason our jails are not full of parents snookered by their children or their children’s friends.
Comments
I was duped all the time as a parent. My kids were with their dad every other weekend and I went skiing. Turns out one of my kids had parties in my house when I was gone (did a heck of a job cleaning up) and I didn't find out 'till I read his friend's comments in his yearbook. Yet I was liable.