5. C.J.S. Parent and Child §§ 191, 309–315.]
parental liability statute
parental-liability statute. A law obliging parents to pay damages for torts (esp. intentional ones) committed by their minor children. • All states have these laws, but most limit the parents’ monetary liability to about $3,000 per tort. Parents can also be held criminally liable for the acts of their children. One group of laws is aimed at contributing to the delinquency and endangering the welfare of a minor. More recently, the laws have been directed at improper supervision and failure to supervise. The first law aimed at punishing parents for the acts of their children was enacted in Colorado in 1903. By 1961 all but two states had enacted similar laws. At least five states make it a felony for a parent to intentionally, knowingly, and recklessly provide a firearm to a child, or permit the child to handle a firearm, when the parent is aware of a substantial risk that the child will use the weapon to commit a crime. — Also termed parental-responsibility statute; failure-to-supervise statute. Cf. PARENTAL-RESPONSIBILITY STATUTE. [Cases: Parent and Child 13.
