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6th Grader Sues Dad Over Grounding - And Wins
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True
The 12-year-old girl's parents are divorced; in the spring of 2008, the girl's mom gave her permission to go on a class trip to Quebec City in June. But the middle-schooler lived with her father, and after she disobeyed daddy's orders to stay off the Internet, he told her she couldn't go. So what did she do? She took him to court. Of course.
A lower court ruled in favor of the girl, who went on the embattled class trip. Her father appealed -- on principle - -and amazingly, the girl won again. The father's attorney, Kim Beaudoin, says that her client is "flabbergasted" and they are considering another appeal, this time to Canada's Supreme Court. But, the attorney adds, the father has no regrets about the court proceedings. "Either way, he doesn't have authority over this child anymore. She sued him because she doesn't respect his rules," Beaudoin said. "It's very hard to raise a child who is the boss."
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Virginia
Children are not to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.
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Nevada
It is illegal to drive a camel on the highway.
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Colorado: It is illegal to ride a horse while under the influence.
Image couresty of Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
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Florida: A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing.Image couresty of Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
This and more other dumb laws can be found at Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
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Wisconsin: Margarine may not be substituted for butter in restaurants unless it is requested by the customer.
Image couresty of Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
This and more other dumb laws can be found at DumbLaws.com.
Illinois: You may be arrested for vagrancy if you do not have at least one dollar bill on your person.
Image couresty of Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
This and more other dumb laws can be found at Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
This and more other dumb laws can be found at DumbLaws.com.
Georgia: Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.
Image couresty of Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
This and more other dumb laws can be found at DumbLaws.com.
Texas: A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.
Image couresty of Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.
This and more other dumb laws can be found at DumbLaws.com.
Now, I don't know a lot about the law, but I watch enough "Law & Order" to know that one thing that counts in the legal world is precedent. CBC News says that "the appeal court warned [that] the case should not be seen as an open invitation for children to take legal action every time they're grounded." But here's thing: If you don't want someone to consider using your ruling in other cases, maybe you shouldn't make the ruling. And what could the judge's reasoning possibly have been? Lucie Fortin, the Legal Aid lawyer who helped the girl take her pops to court, said that "The trip was very important" to the daughter. How is that a legal argument? Don't parents have the right to punish their children? (This is like making Consensual Living a legal requirement.)
Sadly, the case has destroyed the relationship between the girl and her father. "We went from a child who wanted to live with her father, and after all this has been done, they're not speaking anymore." The father's attorney adds, "We have a lot of work to re-establish a link between those two."
| The court - the dad made the wrong choice. | |
|---|---|
| The father - she deserved to be grounded. | |
| The girl - kids have rights, too! | |
| The whole thing is just ridiculous. |
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 23)
4-09-2009 @ 9:28AM
Non-mom said...I say that if that little girl felt grown up enough to sue her father over something frivilous like that field trip, she should be grown up enough to be sued for the cost of food, shelter, and upkeep. The judge in this case should be sued for breaching parental rights and custodial interference.
4-09-2009 @ 9:53AM
CHARITY FORTUNE said...Children have rights to do what they should legally and morally. Class trips are important and do not constitute the propre methods for punishment to students. The father should have made another rule to compensate for her defiance. Whenever school teaches children it is to enhance their life. Rules of Punishment do not enhance a persons life they show a child that life would be better enhanced without punishment. Michelle Fortune, RN
4-09-2009 @ 9:53AM
UncleD said...Right on!!!
4-09-2009 @ 10:39AM
rose said...That little twit should be thankful she didn't have my parents, she would have got a belt to her butt. She got off easy. The same judge can deal with her again when she is pregnant and in juvenile court.
4-09-2009 @ 12:13PM
brrinak said...Jeff, your comments are unconscionable. Someone ought to beat you publicly with a cane and put you under a bus. Idiot.
4-09-2009 @ 12:19PM
Chris said...People.... calm down... This took place in CANADA. No Judge in the states would ever hear this case. They would be removed from the bench imediately from all the negative press alone. It's a different world up in CANADA. The health care system is amazing, but other than that is just plain sucks.
4-09-2009 @ 1:15PM
Robert said...When I can no longer tell my kids what they can and can't do
and they hold that against me, they will no longer live with me.
4-09-2009 @ 2:58PM
phyllis said...the judge should be ashamed of him/herself--parents have little enough control over their children as it is--I wonder what would have happened if the child went and caused some damage or hurt someone-they sure as hell wouldnt hold the child accountable-if the courts are going to make all the decisions of parenting then they should also be held accountable should things go wrong-the child disobeyed her parent and should be subject to reasonable punishment-what good is it if you take something away from the child that she really doesnt care about the court should be liable for all the counseling fees this is going to incur to put this family back together again
4-09-2009 @ 10:41PM
betsy said...Just another fine example of our so-called free country. Seems everyone has a right to tell our kids what to do but the parents! Another display of our government and all it's "wisdom".
4-09-2009 @ 10:56PM
jovili3 said...Only a retarded Canadian would think that this is ok. Just goes to show you what a joke the canadian government and court system is
4-10-2009 @ 12:27AM
MookofUtah said...No suprise this came from Canada...........the country with a marijuana leaf on their flag.
4-10-2009 @ 2:30AM
psalam7060 said...way to go kid! Some parents can be just plain spiteful when it comes to discipline. If the father really cared he would have understand the importance of the kids class trip. im sure he could have figured out another way to get his point accross. making a child miss out on a "once and a life time opprotunity" just to show that you are the boss is wrong....
4-10-2009 @ 8:13AM
kalijon said...On the one hand, society says we should not prosecute children as adults but yet let things like this happen. If we don't want to prosecute children as adults, they need to be treated as children. The pendulum has swung too far. What has happened to common sense.
4-11-2009 @ 11:11AM
Lynda said...Sorry Ed..I dont understsand this vote up and vote down..thing..but I meant to agree with u...and also that child is a very spoiled child..she shoiuld have been punished.. and now she has lost her closeness with her father..perhaps for a long long time..she needs counseling..as do that whole family...if she does this with her father..what does she get away with with her mother/??
4-10-2009 @ 9:50AM
wadeo69 said...This is about as insane as it gets. And yes this has set a legal percedent. If am wrong correct me but I thought legal age was 18 or 21. The courts have much larger issues to tackle than a child who didn't get her way sueing her father. If I was the father the court could have legal custody of her and let the court raise her. We have child abusers,pedophiles,and unfit parents no doubt! Let the court clean this mess up first and keep parenting to parents. Oh by the way what does mom think? Please tell me she didn't put her daughter up to this insanity, if so the court just got had. Well either way young lady it is time for you to be emancipated!
4-10-2009 @ 10:03AM
pat said...i cannot believe that the judicial system wasted money and time to hear this absurd case...and now there are no winnners, only relationships destroyed.....good job Judge!
4-10-2009 @ 10:33AM
just observing said...I think my kids should be able to sue me too. I really do want the little darlings to be happy every second of the day. Rules? What are they? Punishments? Pshaw! I'll trade them, they pay the mortgage and I'll give up my authority over what happens in my house.
4-10-2009 @ 10:55AM
Honeybee1121 said...This whole thing is completely ridiculous..Our tax dollars are being wasted on stupid cases like this. The judge should be removed immediately. Honestly I wonder what is wrong with the parents to have a child that would even attempt something like this, and the mother for going through with it? At that age, well actually I am twenty and I wouldn't have dared went against my parents decisions, then or now, much less thought of something like that. What happened to respect for your parents? Its almost scarey to think what todays youth will be like in ten or fifteen years.
4-10-2009 @ 11:45AM
Carolyn Bond said...Ed, you are so right... She would have to live with the other parent. This is too much... A field trip? No respect for the parent, who made the decision, due to her being a spoiled brat... She can live with the mother. Sorry dad, but you have a problem on your hands.
4-08-2009 @ 8:25PM
Tracy said...I cannot believe a court is now upholding a verdict in favor of a child on "restriction"...not even punishment. She disobeyed a rule on the amount of time on the Internet and she broke that rule. How are our children ever to learn the rules of CONSEQUENCES if a court won't even allow a parent to teach it at the basic level? Bottom line if this trip were SO important to this child...then she should have held herself accountable to follow the rules of the house so she could engage in the activity that was most important to her. And apparently she chose the Internet at the expense of this "important" trip. Bottom line - the court was 100% wrong here and simply allowed this child to get her cake & eat it too!
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