Should parents be held accountable if their minor children commit murder?

If so what would an appropriate punishment for the parents be?

Quote :

“Where were their parents?” grieving families asked after Columbine and Newtown, after Isla Vista and Troutdale.

“Where were the parents?” asks Anthony Pasquale, sitting in the back booth of the Liberty Diner in Clayton, where his coffee is on the house now, because, as is the case everywhere else in town, everyone knows who he is. “Parenting comes with responsibilities, and one of those is to raise your kids right, to pay attention and know when they’re a danger to someone else. That’s a parent’s job.”

To fail at that job is a crime, he believes. He’s recently taken his certainty to court, suing Justin Robinson’s parents for, essentially, being bad parents. He has also turned to Change.org and the New Jersey Legislature, advocating for “Autumn’s Law,” which would punish such parenting with prison.

“Parents who ignore the warning signs of their children’s propensity toward violence are direct contributors to their minor children’s murders,” his petition reads. “If the minor who murdered my daughter was properly treated, parented, disciplined and supervised my daughter would probably be alive today.”

Or, as his lawyer put it, “If you’re going to raise a murderer, you’re going to take responsibility.”

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I don't know how I feel about this. Yes parents are liable for their kids and how they raise them and what these kids are exposed to. On the flip side though, as parents we all know that no matter what values and morals we try to instil in our children that they do have minds of their own and are their own people. Especially at the age of 15, the boy who murdered in this story, they definitely have a mind of their own and are starting to develop their own morals and thoughts about life. I sure know that I was very defiant to my parents at that age. I think there maybe should be some accountability but at what age?? That's a tough call since everyone is so different on how they develop and how mature they are

I don't believe that any person not directly involved in the crime itself should be held accountable for someone else's actions. Personally I was a rebellious little bitch who couldn't be controlled. While I never did anything really horrible, they couldn't have stopped me and I was very good at hiding things and sneaking around as most kids are. Having said that, there are other things they possibly should be held accountable for such as abuse and neglect in the home or improper storage of firearms that allows a child access to the weapons.

No, when it comes to murder, I don't think it was the way you were raised that makes you a killer. In most cases you see, the parents are absolutely shocked and appalled by what their child has done.

It reminds me of a case that recently happened here in Canada. A young man went out into the streets of his home town with the intent to kill police officers. By the end of about a 20 hr stand off, he had killed 4 of them. I read an article about it a couple weeks ago and all his friends said his parents were faithful Christians who went to church every week and couldn't believe what their son had done. They were said to be very nice, kind people who always opened their doors for everyone.

That's just one example I have about how it has absolutely nothing to do with their upbringing of their child.