Creators Syndicate
William Shakespeare wrote in "The Merchant of
Venice," "The sins of the father are to be laid upon the
children." In the centuries since, children continue to suffer for the bad
conduct of their parents. Recently, in what appears to be a bit of a twist, a
jury in Michigan found a mother criminally responsible for the crimes of her
son.
The charges, and conviction, of Jennifer Crumbley are
unprecedented. According to NBC News, it was the first time a parent in the
U.S. was held criminally responsible for a child's school shooting rampage.
Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four students and
injured seven others at Oxford High School in Oakland County, Michigan, on Nov.
30, 2021.
In order to find Jennifer Crumbley guilty of four
counts of involuntary manslaughter the jury had to find that she was extremely
reckless and/or grossly negligent. Voluntary manslaughter does not require
intent to harm or kill, but rather, as in Crumbley's case, could she have
prevented something and did not?
In Michigan gross negligence "is conduct that
presents an unreasonably high degree of risk to others and by a failure to
exercise even the slightest care in protecting them from it and that is
sometimes associated with conscious and willful indifference to their
rights."
Can we expect that the parents of every kid who takes
a weapon to school and harms someone will be in jeopardy of criminal
prosecution? The facts of each case will determine the responsibility, if any,
for the parents. However, in the wake of Crumbley's conviction, there will be a
great deal of pressure on prosecutors to thoroughly investigate, and prosecute,
parents for the role they played in some catastrophic crime.
Jennifer Crumbley's conduct cried out for
accountability. Initially Ethan Crumbley went to his parents for help. He
confessed to hearing voices and having hallucinations. His parents failed to
seek treatment on his behalf.
Crumbley and her husband, James, helped Ethan buy a
semiautomatic handgun just days before the shooting. Jennifer Crumbley took her
son to a practice range to shoot the handgun. The gun was left unsecured in the
house.
On the morning of the shooting, Mom and Dad were
summoned to the school regarding some alarming classroom drawings on Ethan's
notebook. They refused to take Ethan out of school because of work commitments,
and did not tell the school Ethan had a gun.
Upon receiving an emergency text that there was an
active shooter at Ethan's school — his parents didn't immediately rush to
school to see if their son was safe — James went home to see if his son's gun
and ammunition were in the home. Their first thought was that Ethan may be the
shooter.
I'm sure there were failings by parents of other
school shooters. This verdict does not necessarily open every parent of a
school shooter to be prosecuted. However, it may be a first step in holding
parents responsible, generally, for the conduct of their children.
What if a parent owns a gun, and their teenage
daughter takes the gun and commits an armed robbery? Is that parent responsible
for the child's conduct?
Obviously, a jury decision in Michigan has no
precedential value in any other courtroom in Michigan, let alone across the
country. Heck, James Crumbley will be tried next month on the same four counts
of involuntary manslaughter and may be found not guilty.
This verdict charts a path forward for expanding the
number of people to be blamed for a horrendous event like a school massacre.
Horrified observers find comfort in pointing the finger at some person, or
reason, for the senseless killing — in this case it is poor parenting.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, all parents may pay the
price for the sins of some parents. The pain of losing a child is
incomprehensible. The pain endured by parents of a child who takes the lives of
other children is also crushing — being blamed for their child's conduct would
be catastrophic.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg,
Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. His book "The Executioner's Toll,
2010" was released by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at
www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewTMangino.
To visit Creators CLICK HERE
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment