Generically Speaking, Speaking Is Not a Crime

Video Transcribed: Hello. My name is Brian L. Jackson. I’m an attorney for fathers in Oklahoma, and today I’m coming to you with guys with another common legal misconception. There are a lot of people that seem to believe this one, even though they’re wrong.

There’s an awful lot of people that I’ve talked to in Oklahoma, who really honestly believe that it is in fact child abuse to spank your child. I’m here to tell you today, it is not per se, child abuse. I would direct you to Title 21, which is the criminal statute, section 844, which deals with ordinary force as a means of discipline not being prohibited.

The statute specifically reads, and I normally don’t read statutes on here, but I think this one’s worth going directly to the language where it says, “Nothing contained in this act shall prohibit any parent, teacher or another person from using ordinary force as a means of discipline, including, but not limited to spanking, switching or paddling.:

Now, the way this is usually interpreted under the law is that it has to be reasonable. If it’s reasonable, then you’re fine. In other words, reasonable is usually defined as things like is it proportionate to whatever the infraction was and was there any injury inflicted and was it done in anger, or was it done as a means of control?

Generically speaking, it is not a crime. Now, if you are in a situation where you’re accused of using excessive force guys, this is a situation where you definitely want to get an attorney involved, whether it’s a situation where your disciplinary practices are brought up in family court, or if you find yourself the subject of a DHS investigation for disciplinary practices or a police investigation for disciplinary practices, you want to get an attorney involved as quickly as possible.

As we can advise you right off the bat, what you should or shouldn’t be doing and how you can respond to any kind of accusation that might arise of inappropriate use of force.

The fact of the matter is, if you do find yourself in a situation where your spouse is saying, you abused the child because you spanked them, assuming you didn’t inflict an injury, assuming it wasn’t unreasonable.

You didn’t spank them unreasonably for something stupid, then no, it is not abuse. Although, if you are in that situation, you do definitely want to consult with an attorney because we can help you clear that up real fast. My name is Brian L. Jackson and I’m an Oklahoma Dads’ rights attorney.

If you have questions or concerns, or if you need assistance with a situation you may be facing, you can go to dads.law, and I would be glad to help you out. Thank you very much and have a great day.