Abandoning your children now legal in Nebraska

Well, as a paralegal residing in Nebraska, I'm fortunate enough to know where to look for the information on this rather than relying on Fox News to tell me what it says.

The bill, LB 157, was introduced with this statement of intention:

Legislative Bill 157 would allow a parent to leave an infant with an on duty firefighter or hospital staff member within seventy-two hours of the infant's birth. The on duty firefighter or hospital staff member would then have four hours to report the incident to law enforcement. LB 157 also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to maintain and update on a monthly basis a report of the number of children who have been abandoned, and to place the infant with a potential adoptive parent as soon as possible. LB 157 directs the Department of Health and Human Services to terminate the parental rights of the parent that leaves the child with a firefighter or hospital staff member.


Obviously it was modified along the way because what the current law says is far from what the intention statement says.

The "safe haven" law was incorporated to an existing statute involving the abandonment of a child referring to a parent who walks out on their kids and doesn't support them. That's where "child" is defined as being under the age of 16. So the existing law made it a crime (class I misdemeanor, to be exact) for a parent to abandon their child BUT the statute was changed to read that a parent seeking safe haven for a child under the age of 30 days by leaving the child with firefighter or hospital staff member is immune from prosecution under that statute.

Where they screwed up was with Amendment 1696 to LB 157 which said "No person shall be prosecuted for any crime based solely upon the act of leaving a child in the custody of an employee on duty at a hospital licensed by the State of Nebraska."

But then they amended it further with ER8131 to separate and make the distinction between a "safe haven" situation and a parent walking out on their family regardless of the child's age.

So the final entry of the bill did NOT change the "safe haven" law to include children up to the age of 16 nor did it include babysitters. The statute regarding abandoning children of any age is still in place. Parents can still be prosecuted for dumping off their 10 year old.

Incorporating a safe haven law into existing statutes regarding abandonment of children doesn't constitute changing the law completely.

I guarantee you, a case will come along where someone tries to get rid of their teenager under this law and the court isn't going to interpret it that way thus a precedent will be set and case law will establish that there is a difference.

Like we learned in high school, the legislature makes the laws, the courts interpret the laws.

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so that means someone could kidnap your kid and drop it off at the hospital? i hope not, thats crazy!

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All states allow parents to abandon their infant children....they are called "Working Mothers".

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Yes, Andie, because as everyone knows, fathers have absolutely nothing to do with producing babies and have no place in raising a family. Have some issues there, you silly git? Or are you just another neoCon Artist?

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