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California Anti-Spanking Bill Passes First Hurdle

by Staff
April 24, 2008

Sacramento (christiansunite.com) - Despite protests from parents, California's Democrat-controlled Legislature is moving forward with banning many types of spanking. On Tuesday, a bill prohibiting spanking with an "implement," such as a wooden spoon, little paddle, rolled-up newspaper, switch, belt, or brush, passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Democrats for, and one Republican against.

AB 2943 by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, whose anti-spanking crusade made national news last year, is back with her proposal to add "the use of an implement" while spanking to the definition of child abuse in the California Penal Code. Other parts of AB 2943 that deal with actual child abuse are redundant with existing law.

"AB 2943 will result in good parents being arrested, handcuffed, and charged with criminal child abuse," said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), who brought mothers who spank with wooden spoons and little paddles to the committee hearing. "No state legislature has passed a bill like this, and no state or federal court has ruled that spanking is child abuse. AB 2943 tramples the cherished right of parents to raise their own children and removes children from good parents who occasionally spank their children to correct misbehavior."

Voting "aye" on AB 2943 were all five Democrats on the committee: Jose Solorio of Santa Ana, Hector De La Torre of southeast Los Angeles, Fiona Ma of San Francisco, Anthony Portantino of La Cañada Flintridge, and Curren Price of Inglewood. Only Solorio and Portantino were present to hear testimony for and against AB 2943.

Although neither were in the committee room during the hearing on this significant bill, Republicans Greg Aghazarian of Stockton and Joel Anderson of El Cajon voted "no" on AB 2943 before the committee adjourned.

Ironically, Assemblyman Jose Solorio, a Santa Ana Democrat and the committee chair, voted for AB 2943, which broadly lumps together good parents with child abusers, despite opposing other bills on Tuesday that he said were "too broad" and supporting other bills to prevent "wrongful conviction."

Testifying against AB 2943 was Sarah Berke, who has five children and lives near Sacramento:

"I'm here today as one of the thousands of parents in our state who love our children and believe in traditional values," she told the committee. "As someone dead-set against the evil of child abuse, I also have a strong faith that calls on me to correct misbehavior and rebellion when it occurs. This means a spanking once in a while. Yet my faith and moral beliefs that teach me to 'train up a child in the way he should go' would make me a suspected child abuser under AB 2943. Under this bill, I could be arrested and charged with child abuse. I could be tried in criminal court, be sent to jail for a year, and lose custody of my children. AB 2943 tramples the rights of good parents to raise their children with various methods of correction and discipline. This is wrong. Spanking isn't child abuse."

AB 2943 will go next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where last year's anti-spanking bill (AB 755) was stopped. Due to California's massive state budget deficit, AB 2943 and other bills that cost the state money to enforce may not pass.

"This bad bill labels tens of thousands of good fathers and good mothers as violent child abusers," said CCF's Thomasson. "Under AB 2943, all mandatory reporters, including teachers, police officers, social workers, counselors and clergy, must be trained to see parents who spank as potential child abusers. The fact that Sally Lieber wants to order good parents into a 'nonviolent parental education class' demonstrates that she thinks parents who spank are violent child abusers."

"We're all against child abuse and in favor of enforcing existing laws against abusive parents," said Thomasson. "But loving, corrective discipline of children's misbehavior is very different from hateful, harmful abuse. AB 2943 is a radical bill that would hurt tens of thousands of California families, accusing good parents of being child abusers, and forcibly removing children from safe, nurturing homes. This is so wrong - God gave children to parents, not to the state."

Several TV, radio and newspaper outlets came to AB 2943 hearing at CCF's invitation. CCF's website, www.savecalifornia.com, is equipping Californians to call and email their state legislators and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to urge them to oppose AB 2943.

Virtually identical to her failed AB 755, AB 2943 would have the practical effect of making a non-injurious spanking with an object such as a ruler, a wooden spoon, folded newspaper, small paddle, stick or switch illegal. After being arrested, charged, and tried in a criminal court, parents could receive up to one year in jail and lose custody of their children. While Lieber claims that her bill only deals with child abuse, she has repeatedly said that all spanking, by definition, is child abuse.

AB 2943 would amend Penal Code 273a, which currently makes it a crime to cause unjustifiable pain, harm, or injury to any minor child. The instructions to a jury which are mandated by AB 2943 would state that a jury may consider that physical pain or mental suffering inflicted upon a child is unjustifiable if it is caused by any of the seven kinds of actions, which are also listed in AB 2943.

The first of the seven actions listed is "the use of an implement, including, but not limited to, a stick, a rod, a switch, an electrical cord, an extension cord, a belt, a broom, or a shoe." This includes the act of spanking with an object other than using one's hand. This provision threatens to criminalize California parents who lovingly correct their children's misbehavior with a spanking implement.

Because these items would be listed in the Penal Code, the police and District Attorney would likely consider all spanking with an implement to be grounds to bring charges against the parents. Then a criminal court trial would determine if the parents are guilty of criminal child abuse. Parents would have the difficult task of proving that the spanking was justifiable to the satisfaction of the court in a criminal trial in order to avoid being sent to jail for up to one year or receiving other penalties. The case also could be referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) and Juvenile Court, which could result in the possible temporary or permanent loss of custody of their children.

CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (CCF) is a leading West Coast nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing children and families. CCF stands for marriage and family, parental rights, the sanctity of human life, religious freedom, and back-to-basics education.

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