In response to a recent murder allegedly committed
by juveniles, the district attorney’s office said, if possible, it would prosecute
their parents as well. That response follows a pledge by District Attorney
James Stewart, who last
year announced his willingness to enforce local curfew ordinances.
Stewart practices what he preaches. Three months
after his pronouncement, he followed through with an arrest
and subsequent conviction of a mother of two pre-teens accused of a string of
crimes. He also has gone after parents
who miss court dates dealing with children’s excessive truancy.
Holding parents accountable this way may occur through a two-step procedure: if a crime is committed during the local curfew period for minors, this opens the door for charging parents under state law with improperly supervising a minor. R.S. 14:92.2 spells out this crime, which may happen when parents negligently allow for certain actions to occur, including children out after curfew or truancy, or minors under their care associating with people known to them to engage in certain illegal activities.
Although parents can face fines of hundreds of
dollars and/or imprisonment for up to two years, almost all punishable situations
defined in the law permit levying 40 hours of probationary community service or
parenting classes. Further, for this crime if parents seek professional counseling
for their children, they escape any penalty.
These blandishments to make parents take an active
oversight role over their children are neither punitive nor heavy-handed.
Further, if circumstances prevent the necessary amount of supervision, parents
my file an ungovernable juvenile petition with juvenile or district court (only
a few parishes have dedicated juvenile courts) and the court will assign a
probation officer who will provide rules for that child to follow.
Concerning curfews, parish governing authorities
or municipalities may define this according to state law.
In Ouachita
Parish, for example, that extends Monday through Thursday between the hours
of 11 PM and 5 AM of the following day, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
between midnight and 5 AM of the following day for anyone under 17. The same
applies in Monroe
except the Sunday curfew starts at 11 PM. Both have exceptions for certain
things such as a family emergency.
As it is, empirical evidence suggests that such
laws work to reduce not only intentional crime but also those from accidents
such as damage caused by minors illegally operating vehicles. A recent federal
government study reviewing a number of studies over the past few decades determined
most showed a significant positive impact from minor curfew establishment.
But the state could do more. With over 360
municipalities and parishes needing under current state law to act separately in
enacting curfew ordinances (parishes only have the authority in unincorporated
areas), to pick up those jurisdictions without a curfew, lawmakers could
implement a statewide default curfew that extends beyond its present curfew on
minors operating vehicles. This action would close the seeming loophole in
state law that imposes parental accountability but only where a curfew law
exists in the first place.
This approach could lower the state’s depressing
juvenile crime statistics by nipping in the bud tendencies towards escalating
criminality. Nationally, in 2016
Louisiana has the third-highest rate of juvenile arrests for aggravated assault,
ranked eighth in robberies, had the third-most larcenies, and came in sixth in
weapons charges. Because the state only ended up 23rd in arrests for
drugs, it didn’t have the highest overall arrest rate for juveniles, finishing
fifth at 1,770 per 100,000 children.
A more concerted effort by DAs statewide to tie
parents to children’s behavior can help reduce juvenile criminality. Legislators
should facilitate this role by providing the tie through a statewide minor
curfew law.
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