From Bermuda:

Burch: Lock up the parents

By Matthew Taylor

Parents of children who are accused of crimes should face trial too, according to Labour, Home Affairs and Housing Minister David Burch.

He announced the controversial idea at a press conference yesterday and said he was seeking to steer the proposal into law as he hit out at parents living in denial about wayward offspring.

Stressing that he was not speaking for Cabinet, but was expressing his own personal views, Sen. Burch said: "I am of the view that particularly in cases of young people and children that we adults are responsible and we are certainly exploring... having the ability to hold parents accountable.

"For instance, if a child is charged with a crime it is my view that the parent should be standing in the dock charged with them and that is what we are exploring.

"He said the idea could go to Cabinet and if approved could see law amendments.

Asked if a similar concept was done anywhere else in the world, Sen. Burch said:"I don't know. But that is not a reason for me to stop. I think parents are responsible for children.

"Certainly if one looks at the amendments that we made to the Children's Act 2000, I believe it was, where children have certain rights and we adults have certain responsibilities that comes with their protection, care and well-being.

"To abdicate that responsibility... certainly warrants some type of sanction. To date I don't think it exists. What we have now is young people going to court and mommy coming and saying 'he's my innocent little puppy and you have got it all wrong'. I think we have to switch that up.

"He said the subject was slightly outside his remit of his Public Safety brief. But he added:"I take the view that it is a matter that should interest and concern us all in Government and particularly in this Ministry. The alternative is to make the investment at the front end and try to get it right.

"Fixing it in the prison system was more costly, said Sen. Burch.

Shadow Attorney General Mark Pettingill said making parents responsible for their children crimes was "nonsense and would never work".

But he said he was in favour of making parents more responsible for the whereabouts of their children and noted when he had suggested a Parental Responsibility Act in the Senate a few years ago Senator Burch had scoffed at it.

He said in the election the PLPhad attacked the UBP's 'three strikes' policy which would have brought in longer sentences for persistent serious offenders but was now actually trying to go further.

But Mr. Pettingill said teen curfews, as practiced in Las Vegas and some Nordic countries, would be a welcome step as he advocated fines for parents whose children broke those limits.He said:"There is no reason why a 12-year-old has any business being on the streets at 11 o'clock on a school night.

"A curfew would give the Police more powers to clear the streets and could help reduce gang violence and teenage pregnancies, said Mr. Pettingill who added that youngsters could be seen riding up and down sidewalks late at night.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

With regards to young children, I think their idea is a pretty good one. But when it comes to teenagers, there is only so much that a parent, let alone a single parent, can do. How many of us know of a person who is a real stand-up guy or gal, but who has a child who turned out to be a real dirt bag despite the best of efforts by that parent or parents??

Are they going to fund that proposal? Are the parents going to go to county jail and bond out while the juveniles have to sit in detention for up to 48 hours?

Besides a mechanism already exists to some extent for these problems. When the juvenile's case is disposed you can have an order affecting parents. Contempt on that order is punishble by up to 180 days in jail and up to a $500 fine, with rules akin to a criminal trial in terms of evidence and burden of proof.

If the legislature really wants to address this issue why not broaden what can be in that order, under what circumstances the order can issue, and what tools are available for enforcement.

Its easy to blame parents in broad strokes, and that may often be the case, but justice and fairness usually come in individualized bits rather than broad strokes.

The notion that a criminal law, if created or expanded, will achieve more social justice and progress is over applied. About every 20 years, the Legislature must exercise its repeal powers to take off the excess statutory weight piled up in the Penal Code. The last new Penal Code was effective in 1994.