Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden says it’s “paramount” to keep children safe, but a new law he spearheaded will prevent – under threat of jail time – parents from giving junior a swat on the bottom hard enough to help him remember it’s not a good thing to poke a spoon handle into an electric outlet.
That’s because Biden’s new law, signed by Democratic Delaware Gov. Jack Markell Sept. 12, defines any “pain,” even from a loving swat, as “physical injury” and threatens parents with up to two years in jail for disciplining their children.
According to a statement from the Home School Legal Defense Association, which fought the proposal, the law previously permitted a parent to use force to punish a child for misconduct, but it held parents back from any action that caused – or was likely to cause – physical injury....