Minnesota Public Radio and the Minnesota Star Tribune report that lawmakers in Minnesota have approved a bill to strengthen Minnesota child neglect laws.
Governor Mark Dayton said that the law would protect the elderly and children who were victims of neglect.
Under the new law, caretakers can be charged with a felony rather than a misdemeanor if the person is found to have neglected a child or an elderly person whom they are legally obligated to care for.
The original measure was aimed specifically at the caregivers of vulnerable adults. But the House amended it with a provision that also covers the intentional mistreatment of children.
. . .
“It’s going to declare that Minnesota will not tolerate that kind of deprivation of people who cannot fend for themselves,” said Iris Freeman, a longtime elder advocate at the William Mitchell College of Law Center for Elder Justice & Policy.
The lawmakers stated that the law amended to include the intentional mistreatment of children parents were accused of chaining their 5-year-old child to a bed. Under the new law, the penalty for unreasonable restraint of children would include up to two years in prison and a $4,000 fine.
I applaud any laws that strengthen the protection rights of those in need. One always wonders whether lawmakers are simply passing laws to get re-elected, but I like this one.
As a lawyer, I immediately think of things like Minnesota guardianships or conservatorships. Under the guardianship laws in Minnesota, there doesn’t appear to be criminal penalties for guardians who fail in their duties. Under Minn. Stat. 524.5-313(c)(2):
. . .
(2) the duty to provide for the ward’s care, comfort, and maintenance needs, including food, clothing, shelter, health care, social and recreational requirements, and, whenever appropriate, training, education, and habilitation or rehabilitation. The guardian has no duty to pay for these requirements out of personal funds. Whenever possible and appropriate, the guardian should meet these requirements through governmental benefits or services to which the ward is entitled, rather than from the ward’s estate. Failure to satisfy the needs and requirements of this clause shall be grounds for removal of a private guardian, but the guardian shall have no personal or monetary liability . . .
(emphasis added). To me, at least in the guardianship context, there doesn’t appear to be much punishment for those guardians who neglect their duties.
Perhaps it was time for a change in the law and I applaud the Minnesota legislators for recognizing that need.
See Lawmakers approve bill to strengthen neglect laws, Minnesota Public Radio, April 6, 2012.
-This post was written by Joseph M. Flanders, an Apple Valley MN family lawyer.
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