is it legal for a minor child to be arrested at home without informing a parent first?

Question

police came into our home and got my son out of bed and told him they wanted to talk outside once outside he asked to talk to his dad and they(police) told him no. We found out 3 hours later where he was. The Police station would and could not tell us anything about him or where he was. Dont us we as parents need to be informed of what is happening by the police . My son is only 16 and we have the right to be informed of whats going on before he is taken off. Our deaf daughter let them into our home but the Police never said anything to us we dont know if there was even a warrent for him. They just took him without a parents knowledge. IS THIS ACTUALLY LEAGAL FOR THEM TO DO? WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT THIS MATTER? WHO DO I REPORT IT TO?? HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Wow! There are some people on here who seem pretty sure of themselves.

Before you decide which of these answers you think is right, check with your state law. Most states only require parental notification once a minor is arrested and/or booked at juvenile hall. If you tell us what state you are in, it can help.

Minors do not have a right to speak with their parents if they are being detained or questioned by the police. Here is part of an article about Miranda rights witten by the Alameda County DA's office:

MINORS: Minors have the same Miranda rights as adults and, therefore, need not be
given any additional information. In the past, there was some confusion over whether
officers must notify a minor that he has a right to speak with a parent before questioning
or that he may have a parent present during questioning. The answer to both is no.

If your son asked to see you, it doesn't matter. Here is more from the article, including cited case law:

SUSPECT REQUESTS TO TALK WITH SOMEONE: In the past, it was the rule in California that a minor’s request to speak with his mother or father was an invocation of the right to remain silent even if it was apparent he was not invoking.Citing this rule, defense
attorneys would argue that an adult suspect invoked by requesting to speak with, for
example, his probation officer, employer, friend, parent, or psychologist. But as the result
of Davis and another important Supreme Court case, Fare v. Michael C., these
arguments are now summarily rejected.

Allthough it would have been polite to inform you, they most likely weren't required to. Your question doesn't state where you were when the police came over.

Answer 2

In IL it is legal for anyone over the age of 10 to be arrested without a parent present. The child can be questioned by the police and put in a juvenile detention center. The parent usually is informed by the police as a courtesy but often is informed by the detention center staff. The children are read their rights and are told they don't have to make a statement. They usually aren't questioned unless it is a big case that detectives have been following for a long time (months) in which the child is offered a lawyer and the parents are usually asked if they want to be present while their child is being questioned. In IL the minor (under the age of 17) must go in front of a judge within 40 hrs. to determine if they should be detained until their next hearing which is a bench trial where they will be able to present evidence and will be found guilty or not guilty. This hearing can be anywhere from a few days to 30 days away. Then there is a sentencing. This can be the same day but can be as far away as 30 more days. I hope this information helps.

Answer 3

Depending on which state you live in this coud be legal or not. It depends on what they arrested him for. It sounds pretty serious from the description but you should 1: File a complaint with your state's Attorney General's office because this is something that probably needs to be changed and that the public needs to know should something like this ever happen to anyone again in the future and #2. Talk to a lawyer about what happened. He/She probably knows more about the law in your state than I or anyone else on here so they can tell you much better even if it costs you some money.

As for the actual legalness of what happened, they took cruel and abusive advantage of him, your deaf daughter and your family in general. Your deaf daughter (no matter how well she can hear) probably could not hear the police and just assummed it was a Girl Scout or something at the door selling cookies for all she knew. Then, without a warrant or one known of, the police came into your house. PLEASE talk to your daughter to see what the police told her like if they had a warrant for your son's arrest. If no warrant was shown to a member of the family is in your own and the public's general interest to see what went on. Getting the attention of the media might not be a bad idea either. Furthermore you can try to talk to other police departments from the general area and see if they were told anything about it. Also check with the state police to see if there was a warrant out for your son's arrest. If there was none then something is definitly wrong here. Good luck trying to find out what happened though, it won't be easy at this point.

Answer 4

Since you are the "legal Guardian" you have the right to be informed about all instances with the Police.

With this "new law of the land", coming into your home is now legal, but taking your kid out, is a bit much. Its a good thing your daughter was a witness to where he went, or you would never have known.

Get a lawyer and then, put a piece in the paper and go to the Television Station in your area and read the riot act in front of the Cameras, so that the populace will "know" what is going on in the Community.

I pray that there was no "reason" for his incarceration, but, if there WAS, then, you should really read the riot act to your child!!!

Be a responsible parent and check out ALL the facts, before taking any actions...because you dont want to be made a fool out of, if your child was in serious trouble and you start spouting off.

Be a responsible parent and discipline your child, if he was in the wrong also, and have him own up to his crime...

(Its hard to do, but, if it stops him from doing any further crime, providing he DID do something, it will be worth it in the future).

I wish you well..

Jesse

Answer 5

It all depends on what state ya live and so on and so forth. Each state has diff. laws governing the arrest of minors. I know in the state i live in and work yes, it is legal. Depending on the charge they can be considered an adult and arrested as an adult. Or they have to acquire a juvenile petition for the arrest of a minor. Generally in good moral value they should inform the parents but this is not always the case. Each officer is different. The best thing to do is go to the jail he is and talk to the jailers and the charging officer about what the charges are. I don't know where you live so i cant say for sure if its legal or not but i know where i live it is in certain circumstances.

Answer 6

Yes it is illegal to tape someone with out their knowing... The exception being if someone called you on your Private telephone...you can tape anyone with out permission or having to let them know... It is also inadmissible in Court because it was obtained illegally You cannot call someone and tape the conversation without you letting them know that you are doing so. That is why when ever you call a Company they say "This Call maybe Taped or Monitored". He would have had to worked with the Products for years in an enclosed area to get Cancer... Working at Lowe's would not produce enough dust etc to cause Cancer. I worked with Concrete and Treated Lumber for 50 years and don't have cancer and neither does about 100 other people I know... If you read the test results from these so called EPA scientist testing...You would have to ingest about 4 pounds of dust per day for years... He is just looking for a Free Ride... Is he a Smoker ??? What were his jobs before Lowe's ??? If he has Cancer it is from some other cause... To him Lowe's has the most money so lets go after them...His Lawyer probably put him up to it...

Answer 7

Yes they may if they have solid probable cause for an arrest and/or an arrest warrant, or a warrant for a probation violation.

You can find out if they had a warrant by asking.

If your daughter is legally deaf, that may be grounds to say she did not fully understand what they wanted and thus they did not have valid permission to be in the house.

But thay may or may not void the arrest, only any evidnece they got from the house, or a confession he made during the time period shortly after that period.

And I have to ask, where were you that the police can come into the house, wake your son up, arrest him and take him out. did he not yell for you, were you not home ???

Answer 8

Just make sure your son does not sign anything if they let him call home tell him don't talk to them because he had the rite to hire him a lawyer i wish that your daughter did not open the door but you and you husband need get on the phone and be calling around to lawyer offices and tell him/ her what's going on because they could pressure your son into saying anything and doing anything so just call the police department and ask them what they have him for and they say they can't tell that's when you go down their with his lawyer your first time talking with the lawyer should be free in state GA it is ! i hope this help if not much just a little

Answer 9

Call a lawyer. They can help you sort out the process better than anyone on Yahoo Answers. I believe that the police can detain a minor for questioning without informing the parents.

Answer 10

Many cities have free legal aid available, check with the website of your local courthouse for more information. It is better to work with the police than being all in their face about rights. Showing them some respect will go a long way towards getting respect back.