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| Date: From: Subject: | 6/27/2012 11:30:45 AM Dee Black--HSLDA Delaware--Anti-Spanking Bill Passes House Committee |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Delaware -- Anti-Spanking Bill Passes House Committee Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Bad news! Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 234 by a unanimous vote of 7-0. It now goes to the full House of Representatives, which will vote on it either today, tomorrow, or Saturday. Your calls and emails are needed to convince members of the House that Delaware citizens do not want to make it a crime for parents to spank their own children. Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Patricia M. Blevins (District 7), creates a definition of the term "physical injury" in the child abuse and neglect laws to include "pain." Currently the law permits a parent to use force to punish a child for misconduct, but it prohibits any act that is likely to cause or does cause physical injury. By defining "physical injury" to include the infliction of pain on a child, spanking would become a crime in Delaware punishable by imprisonment for up to two years. We do not believe the intent of this bill was to outlaw corporal discipline. The purpose appears to be to strengthen child abuse and neglect laws. Unfortunately, the effect of this bill is to prohibit a well-meaning parent from doing anything to a child that would cause pain. Obviously this would include spanking. The analyses of this bill we have seen from a member of the House and a representative of the Delaware Attorney General's Office fail to consider a plain reading of the current law that it is not permissible to cause physical injury to a child and that Senate Bill 234 would define "physical injury" as pain. A simple solution to this dilemma would be to simply remove the definition of physical injury from the bill. This terrible bill passed the Senate unanimously on June 19, 2012, by a vote of 21-0. If this bill is enacted, Delaware would become the first state in the nation to outlaw corporal discipline of children by their parents. Members of the House of Representatives need to hear from Delaware parents who wish to preserve the right to direct the upbringing of their children, including the right to administer reasonable corporal discipline. Action Requested: 1. Please call and/or email your state representative with this message or something similar in your own words: "Please vote against Senate Bill 234, which would make it a crime for a parent to administer reasonable corporal discipline to a child, punishable by up to two years in prison. By creating a definition of the term 'physical injury' to include any form of pain, even spanking a child for misconduct would subject a parent to prosecution for child abuse and a prison term." You may find the contact information for your representatives at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15038 . 2. Please forward this email to every family you know who is not a member of HSLDA and urge them to contact their state representative. To view the text of this bill, please go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15039 . Please call or email as soon as you read this email! Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Is customer service an art or a science? For us, good customer service is both an art and a science -it should appeal to our members and be effective. Consider what our members say about us: We're thankful for the support HSLDA membership provides us. We'd never homeschool without them. We highly recommend HSLDA to all homeschoolers. - North Tonawanda, NY I cannot imagine our homeschool journey without HSLDA's strong leadership, protection, and guidance. 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