We're Not Optimistic as We Wish a Pennsylvania Township Godspeed
Gloucester Township is a municipality of almost 66,000 people located approximately 15 miles from Philadelphia.
The contrast between the two could not be any greater.
In Philadelphia youth gangs run wild and the soft-on-crime district attorney has installed a revolving door in the jail.
More often than not criminals are arrested in Philadelphia, not charged with a crime and then released where they can continue their work in boosting the City of Brotherly Love’s violent crime statistics.
Gloucester Township sees Philadelphia and doesn’t want to be Philadelphia.
Instead, city leaders have passed a new ordinance that extends accountability for juvenile crime to the parents.
Fox News reports, "Under a new ordinance in a New Jersey town, parents can be fined and even charged for their children’s unruly behavior.
The Township of Gloucester Minors and Parents Responsibility Ordinance stipulates consequences, including jail time, for parents and guardians who 'fail to prevent their children from breaking the law,' according to a news release from police.
The ordinance includes 28 different offenses that range from felonies to minor infractions such as loitering, breaking curfew or chronic truancy."
The law isn’t as draconian as it looks at first glance.
The police department clarified that if a minor is found guilty repeatedly in juvenile court their caretaker or parent — presumably whoever answers the door first — could face 90 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000. Even then the first contact with police in connection with this ordinance will result in a warning.
The new ordinance wasn’t passed in a vacuum. "The ordinance was passed by the Township Council July 28 and was introduced after incidents of public disturbance involving kids at events like last year’s Gloucester Township Day and Drone Show."
During that event feral and savage teenagers started brawling. A total of 11 people were arrested and nine of them were teens. Three cops were injured during the fighting.
And if you’re wondering how the new ordinance affected this year's event, it didn't.
The festival was postponed because agitators on social media were promising to disrupt the celebration this year, too.
We are certainly in favor of accountability and juvenile crime is a growing problem, but we wonder what effect, if any, this law will have on parents whose children are already running amok in the streets?
Maybe those teenagers are lost causes and they can share prison space with their parents.
It could be the law will be most useful as a wakeup call for parents with children who are-caught on the minor end of the spectrum of offenses.
Loitering but not yet drive-by-shooting.
We also wonder if parents who are completely unable to control or are afraid of their progeny will have a way to absolve themselves of liability?
Which brings up another series of questions: Who goes to jail? Dad or mom?
Do the cops get joint custody?
Do the parents draw straws or is it decided by which "caregiver" throws the most punches when the cops arrive with the citation?
And what about the inevitable court challenges by lawyers who live in areas that aren’t plagued by juvenile crime?
We wish Gloucester Godspeed, but we aren’t optimistic.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.