Court Opinion

ID: 9739433
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:14:47.005458+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:12.184384
License: Public Domain

Abrams, J.
(concurring). I concur. On the facts of this case, the defendant cannot be convicted as an accessory before the fact pursuant to G. L. c. 274, § 2 (1990 ed.). “[0]rdinary rules of statutory construction require us to construe any criminal statute strictly against the Commonwealth.” Aldoupolis v. Commonwealth, 386 Mass. 260, 267, cert, denied, 459 U.S. 864 (1982), quoting Commonwealth v. Devlin, 366 Mass. 132, 137-138 (1974). “Plain omissions in the law to provide for exigencies which may arise cannot be supplied by those charged with administering the law or by the courts in construing and interpreting the statutes” (emphasis supplied). Thacher v. Secretary of the Commonwealth, 250 Mass. 188, 190-191 (1924). Cf. State v. Williquette, 129 Wis. 2d 239, 268 (1986) (Heffernan, C.J., dissenting) (“the majority’s strained interpretation [of the child abuse statute, holding it criminalizes acts of omission] is an invasion of the legislative prerogative”). Currently, no criminal statute reaches acts of omission such as the one involved in this case.
I note that a majority of State Legislatures have enacted criminal child abuse statutes which proscribe acts of omis*190sion as well as the affirmative infliction of harm to a child.1 *191Some State statutes expressly identify the crime as the violation of a duty of care or protection.2 However, as the Supreme Court of North Carolina emphasized in State v. Walden, 306 N.C. 466 (1982), a requirement that parents take affirmative action to prevent harm to their children does not mean that “parents have the legal duty to place themselves in danger of death or great bodily harm in coming to the aid of their children.”3
Strong and compelling arguments can be made for and against criminalizing the type of conduct described in the court’s opinion. See Johnson, Criminal Liability for Parents *192Who Fail to Protect, 5 Law & Ineq. J. 359, 377-390 (1987); Note, Commendable or Condemnable? Criminal Liability for Parents Who Fail to Protect Their Children from Abuse, 1987 Wis. L. Rev. 659, 684-685. As the court’s opinion makes clear, parents have a duty to provide for the safety and welfare of their children. Ante at 187-188. See Commonwealth v. Gallison, 383 Mass. 659, 665 (1981), and cases cited. It is for the Legislature to determine whether expanding that duty by criminalizing acts of omission would better protect the Commonwealth’s children.

 See, e.g., Phelps v. State, 439 So. 2d 727, 734 (Ala. Crim. App. 1983) (child abuse statute, Ala. Code § 26-15-3, encompasses acts of omission as well as of commission); Cal. Penal Code § 273a (West 1988) (criminal liability imposed on “(1) [a]ny person who, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death,... permits any child to suffer ... or having the care or custody of any child ... permits the person or health of such child to be injured, or ... permits such child to be placed in such situation that its person or health is endangered . . . [and] (2) [a]ny person who, under circumstances or conditions other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death . . . permits any child to suffer ... or having the care or custody of any child ... permits the person or health of such child to be injured, or ... permits such child to be placed in such situation that its person or health may be endangered . . .”); Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18-6-401(1) (West 1990 & Supp. 1991) (“[a] person commits child abuse if [he] . . . permits a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which poses a threat of injury to the child’s life or health . . .”); Fla. Stat. Ann. § 827.04(1) (West 1991) (“[w]hoever . . . knowingly or by culpable negligence . . . permits the infliction of physical or mental injury to the child, and in so doing causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to such child, shall be guilty of’ child abuse); Iowa Code Ann. § 726.6.le (West 1979 & Supp. 1992) (parent, guardian or legal custodian who “[kjnowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a child or minor” is guilty of child endangerment); State v. Green, 449 So. 2d 141, 144 (La. Ct. App. 1984) (“criminal negligence” as used in La. Rev. Stat. § 14:93 prohibiting cruelty to a juvenile is such disregard of the interest of others that the offender’s conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful person in the circumstances); Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.378 (2) (1990) (“[a] parent, legal guardian, or caretaker who knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a child is guilty of neglect of a child”); Mo. Ann. Stat. § 568.050 (3) (1986 & Supp. 1991) (criminalizing parent, guardian, or legal custodian who “recklessly fails or refuses to exercise reasonable diligence” in preventing nonaccidental injury to child); Nev. Rev. Stat. § 200.508 (1992) (“1. Any person who ...(b) Is responsible for the safety or welfare of a child and who permits or allows that child to suffer unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering as a result of abuse or neglect or to be placed in a situation where the child may suffer physical pain or mental suffering as the result of abuse or neglect, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor ... 3. As used in this section: ...(c) ‘Permit’ means permission that a reasonable person would not grant and which amounts to a neglect of responsibility attending the cafe, custody and control of a minor child”); N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-6-1(C) (Michie 1978 & Supp. 1991) (“[a]buse of a child consists of a person knowingly, intentionally or negligently, and without justifiable cause . . . permitting a child to be (1) placed in a situation that may endanger the child’s life ór health; (2) tortured, cruelly confined or cruelly punished . . .”); W. Va. Code § 61-8D-1 (Michie 1989) (“[n]eglect” for *191purposes of child abuse statute means “unreasonable failure by a parent, guardian, or any person voluntarily accepting a supervisory role towards a minor child to exercise a minimum degree of care to assure said minor child’s physical safety or health”).

 See, e.g., Haw. Rev. Stat. § 709-904 (2) (1991) (“[a] person commits the offense of endangering the welfare of a minor ... by violating or interfering with any legal duty of care or protection owed such minor”); Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 554 (West 1983 & Supp. 1990) (the crime of endangering the welfare of a child includes knowingly endangering “the child’s health, safety or mental welfare by violating a duty of care or protection”); Miss. Code Ann. § 97-5-39 (1973 & Supp. 1991) (“[a]ny parent, guardian or other person who . . . omits the performance of any duty, which . . . omission results in the abuse and/or battering of any child” may be found guilty of child abuse); Mont. Code Ann. § 45-5-622 (1990) (“[a] parent, guardian, or other person supervising the welfare of a child less than 18 years old commits the offense of endangering the welfare of children if he knowingly endangers the child’s welfare by violating a duty of care, protection or support”); N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 639:3 (1986) (the crime of endangering the welfare of a child includes “purposely violating a duty of care, protection or support . . . owe[d] to such child”); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2919.22 (Baldwin 1986 & Supp. 1991) (endangering children includes “violating a duty of care, protection or support”); Wyo. Stat. § 6-4-403 (Michie 1987 & Supp. 1991) (a person commits the crime of endangering children “by violating a duty of care, protection or support”).

 See Iowa Code Ann. § 726.6.le (1979 & Supp. 1992) (“it is an affirmative defense ... if the person had a reasonable apprehension that any action to stop the continuing abuse would result in substantial bodily harm to the person or the child or minor”); Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.378 (West 1990) (“It is a defense to a prosecution . . . that at the time of the neglect or endangerment there was a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the defendant that acting to stop or prevent the neglect or endangerment would result in substantial bodily harm to the defendant or child in retaliation”).