Straight From the Lawyer's Lips 

A Legal Blog

 by Steven H. Wolff, Esq. 

 

Can Spanking Your Child Send You to the Slammer?

The other day I was speaking with a client.  The conversation went to child raising and she asked me if it was still legal to give your child a spank. Well, that all depends on what exactly is your definition of spanking.  The language in the statute that governs child abuse talks about unnecessary severe corporal punishment, unnecessary cruelty (of the physical or mental kind) and failing to provide proper food, clothing and regular school education.  Recently, there was just a case decided by the State Appeals Court where they upheld a decision by the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) that found that a parent’s slap in the face of an 8 year old constituted unnecessary and excessive force.  The slap, which left a bruise on the child’s face, was deemed by the Court to “go beyond what is proper and reasonable.”

 One of the key factors the Court looked at in their decision was that the slap was to the face, and not to another area like the shoulder or buttocks.  By striking the child in the face the parent has “intensified the potential for harm.”  Basically, if you hit someone in the face you do some real damage (knock out a tooth or injury and eye for example) versus hitting a child on an area that isn’t a vital organ or isn’t likely to result in a great deal of harm. The parent in that case had also used a degree of force that was high enough to leave fingerprints and bruising.  In New Jersey, if DYFS decides that they find abuse or neglect of a child, then that parent can be placed on a registry kept of abusive parents.  So you can see the degree of seriousness in a matter like this- not only are charges involved, but you can be placed on a registry.  There is also a duty to report abuse found in the law and failure to do so can subject a party to criminal liability. 

So after all this, I told the client that a quick, light smack on the tuchus is probably not going to get you in trouble.   But as our standards of what is proper and reasonable concerning corporal punishment change, then so will the degree of legally accepted discipline. 

Yours Truly,

     Steven H. Wolff, Esq.

“Straight From the Lawyer’s Lips” is a blog in which answers to your legal questions submitted to steven@wolfflawnj.com may be answered. The answers to the questions are for informational purposes only and are not to be construed as legal advice or the creation of an attorney-client relationship. The facts of each case is different, therefore you should seek competent legal representation.

The Law Office of Steven H. Wolff, LLC is a full service law firm which can be reached at 973-685-7160.  If you have a legal matter, please contact Mr. Wolff to discuss your case with a free consultation.