You asked the rationale for making parents partly liable for damages caused by their 16- and 17-year-olds' willful and wanton acts, in light of law enforcement's hesitance in assisting parents enforce house rules.

The parental liability statute makes parents liable for up to $ 5000 of damages their minor children cause by (1) willfully or maliciously damaging property or injuring people or (2) damaging vehicle they have stolen (CGS § 52-572).

The legislative history of the law, which was originally enacted in 1955, indicates that its primary purpose was to reduce juvenile delinquency, particularly vandalism. Legislators speaking for the bill that became law indicated that parents who knew they could be held liable for a portion of the damages their children caused would exercise greater control over and teach their children to respect the property of others. A secondary purpose was to compensate innocent victims, as children under the common law cannot be sued (Hearings on Substitute for House Bill No. 71, 1955 Session, pp. 800-01).

We found nothing in the legislative history addressing the interplay between parents' and law enforcement's respective responsibilities for controlling these teenagers.

SP: dw