Canada: court overturns parent’s grounding of 12-year-old

The father wouldn’t let her go on a school trip because he said she’d been acting up, including using a friend’s account to post inappropriate pictures on a dating site. “But [Quebec Superior Court] Justice Suzanne Tessier, who was presiding over the case, found the punishment too severe.” The mother, who is divorced from the father, was supporting the girl; the school’s policy was that both parents’ permission was required for such trips. According to a lawyer involved in the case, the father has legal custody but the girl has been living with her mother for the past month. (AFP/FoxNews.com, Globe and Mail, Eugene Volokh). Plus: Token Conservative suggests a new writ of “habeas bratus”.

5 Comments

  • Sadly, that would be the moment I would wash my hands of my (most unfortunate) child. If the state will control everything, then I have no say, and I won’t be around to take the blame for their mistakes.

    It would certainly be an aweful thing, but in such a case, the state has already taken custody, so you might as well formalize it.

  • This was part of an ongoing custody battle. The mother suggested taking the father to court since the school required both signatures on the permission slip.
    I believe the father has now relinquished custody, on the basis that he no longer has control of his childs behaviour.

  • […] Hat tip: Overlawyered […]

  • What a stupid judge and what a stupid mom. That Dad had every right to ground his child for bad behaviour.
    I say kudos to the dad for actually trying to be a parent.

  • […] Quebec father who was taken to court by his 12-year-old daughter after he grounded her in June 2008 has lost his appeal.” [CBC] […]