Opinion ID: 1504888
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Consent and Lawful Authority

Text: Dick asserts that in chaining Molly to her bed, she was only exercising her right and obligation as a parent to control and protect her children. Parental rights are in the nature of a trust subject to their duty to care for and protect the child, and the law secures those parental rights only so long as parents discharge their obligations. Pender v. McKee, 266 Ark. 18, 582 S.W.2d 929 (1979). Further, while a parent has wide discretion and a duty under the law to rear and discipline his or her child, the discretion to discipline does not exceed the limits of reasonable parental care. See Attwood v. Estate of Attwood, 276 Ark. 230, 633 S.W.2d 366 (1982). Parental rights are not beyond limitation in the public interest. McFarland v. McFarland, 318 Ark. 446, 885 S.W.2d 897 (1994) (quoting Davis v. Smith, 266 Ark. 112, 583 S.W.2d 37 (1979)). The State's constitutional interest extends to the welfare of the child, and parental rights are not immune from interference by the State in its role of parens patriae. Id. A parent may use reasonable and appropriate physical force upon the minor . . . when and to the extent reasonably necessary to maintain discipline or to promote the welfare of the minor. . . . Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-605(1). However, obviously, a parent may not use his or her parental authority to commit a crime upon his or her own child. See, e.g., Demontigney v. State, 593 N.E.2d 1270 (Ind.Ct.App. 1992) (parent convicted for chaining six-year-old son to his bed and leaving him for long periods of time without food and water to defecate and urinate on himself); State v. Brown, 792 S.W.2d 3 (Mo.Ct.App. 1990) (live-in boyfriend convicted of criminal confinement and torture of seven-year-old boy who was banished to furnace room in the basement, chained to a rusty bed frame, and physically abused under the guise of discipline); State v. Artis, 46 Ohio App.3d 25, 545 N.E.2d 925 (1989) (father convicted of child endangerment for binding his daughter, tying her to a beam, stuffing a sock in her mouth, and beating her with a paddle under the guise of discipline); Nebgen v. State, 47 Ohio App. 431, 192 N.E. 130 (1933) (man with custody of seven-year-old boy convicted for chaining the boy to a bathtub in his absence and for failure to properly feed and clothe the boy). Parents can be guilty of unlawful imprisonment of their own children in circumstances where the restrictions on the children's movements, viewed objectively, are excessive, immoderate, or unreasonable. State v. Kinchen, 92 Wash. App. 442, 444, 963 P.2d 928 (1998). When a person restrains his or her own child for an unlawful purpose, he or she divests him or herself of any parental immunity. People v. Checketts, 71 Cal.App.4th 1190, 84 Cal.Rptr.2d 491 (1999). The majority rule is that a parent may lawfully exercise reasonable control and discipline of his or her own child. See State v. Washington, 166 Vt. 600, 691 A.2d 583 (1997); State v. Bruce, 132 N.H. 465, 566 A.2d 1144 (1989); People v. Walker, 130 Ill.App.3d 58, 85 Ill.Dec. 396, 473 N.E.2d 995 (1985). Our own cases are consistent with this rule. Attwood, supra ; McFarland, supra . Our statutes are consistent with this rule. Ark.Code Ann. § 5-2-605. There is no merit to Dick's argument on appeal that as a parent she could not be held liable for criminal conduct committed against Molly because she had the lawful authority to consent to restraint of her child. There was substantial evidence to support the jury's finding that Dick committed the crime of false imprisonment by exercising excessive and unreasonable restraint that created a substantial risk of serious physical injury. Affirmed. CORBIN and IMBER, JJ., dissent.