Defend Yourself -- Be that ONE Small Voice: State Statute Summary Relating to Spanking

Saturday, November 5, 2011

State Statute Summary Relating to Spanking

For those who may be interested, found a text document who someone created in 2004 summarizing, by the state and related statute numbers those sections relating to the use of spanking.
Here is the link to a pdf file of the text information>> Download State Statutes Relating to Spanking as of 2004.

As with many statutes, and taken from a few states, many terms are relative.. ie "..reasonable and appropriate physical force.."; "..appropriate non-deadly force.."; "..reasonable and appropriate physical force.."; "..reasonable disciplinary purposes.."; And of course from the controversial Spanking Judge incident, here is:

TEXAS

Abuse does not include reasonable discipline by a parent/guardian/managing or possessory conservator if child not exposed to substantial risk of harm. Family Code Sec. 261.001.[Ci.] Parent/stepparent/person standing in loco parentis to child is justified to use non-deadly force against a child under 18 when and to degree the actor reasonably believes necessary to discipline, or safeguard or promote child's welfare. Penal Sec. 9.61.[Cr.]

A few months ago got into a conversation about "Relative Terms". She came up with a very "Non-Legal" philosophy..ie the Potato Chip Theory. Simple put, How many potato chips do we need to eat to parallel abuse.. ie 12, 20 etc. One might say, even in our statutes, there are many "Grey" terms used and Not Black and White, like many would like to have.

So for reference, do download this document, and check your state statutes. As said, this info is from 2004 and may want to check if there are updates... But at least there are statute #'s for reference. I am not a lawyer, but hasn't stopped me from researching.

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May you find Strength in Your Higher Power,