Playing the Odds: Why Every Family Should Have a Criminal Attorney on Speed Dial
You are a parent.
You take zero chances.
Your staff includes private tutors and coaches.
It includes insurance agents and doctors.
It should also include a criminal defense attorney.
“We don’t need a family criminal lawyer; we aren’t criminals.”
Statistics from the National Survey of Youth show there is a 1 in 3 chance your child is arrested before age twenty-three. A startling and rather unspoken truth. Adolescent arrests have grown as a result of tough on crime legislation, harsh sentences, and an increase in government spending and police forces.
Today, everything is a crime. What you once knew as a slap on the wrists (a crime) is now a slap in cuffs. Rivalry week pranks are a crime. After school fights are a crime. The senior courting the sophomore can be a crime. The teacher your son daydreams of is now not only attainable but also a crime. Yes, your high school is a far cry from your teenager’s high school. So while the private coach trains your Olympic-bound child (1 in 662,000 chance) or the private tutor prepares your prodigy child for that perfect ACT score (1 in 14,000 chance), your family’s odds of needing a criminal defense attorney is significantly higher (1 in 3 chance).
“. . . but not my kid.”
Hopefully not, but honeymooners aren’t thinking about divorce (1 in 2 chance) either. The law, particularly criminal law, is intimidating. Public perception reserves criminal courtrooms for the nation’s bottom-feeders. However, step inside the criminal courthouse and you will see a different story. You will find people who are lost; angry and defiant people; people who suffer from mental disabilities; victims of physical and mental abuse; people with hidden drug and alcohol addictions; people who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time; and people with solid homes and good families. Sound Familiar?
A teenager’s struggle is real and adding to it is the criminal injustice justice system. A flawed system where lawmakers, officers, judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys have all been guilty at times of getting it wrong and doing it wrong.
This hard reality led Lisa Green, author of “On Your Case: A Compassionate (and Only Slightly Bossy) Legal Guide for Every Stage of a Woman’s Life,” to emphasize the need for every parent of a teen to have a criminal defense attorney on speed dial. Legal insurance to protect children and parents who can be held civilly and criminally liable should the unexpected occur.
“If something comes up, it won’t, but if it does, I’ll find a local criminal defense attorney.”
You won’t have time. Suspected of unlawful activity, within seconds your child is whisked away to the principle’s office. There police officers and school officials wait. Cell phones are confiscated, backpacks are searched, and statements are made. Your teen’s constitutional rights ignored waived when they should have been protected. Protection in the form of preparation. Preparation by spending the time to find a trusted criminal attorney capable of educating your family on life-altering encounters with authorities.
“Okay, well I’ll just Google my question.”
You won’t have time, but let’s assume you did. When your teen needs medical attention, you call your doctor. Sure, you may check out WebMD (1 in 3 chance of being correct), with the caveat a qualified doctor is necessary to diagnosis, treat, and in serious instances save. If your teenager finds himself in a legal jam, Google equals not an attorney. Most legal information is not only vague but incorrect, written by second-year employees at John Doe Web Design, hung-over from last night’s “bro-fest.” Instead, your family criminal attorney can quickly diagnosis, treat, and in serious instances save you and your family.
You are a parent.
You take zero chances.
Your staff includes private tutors and coaches.
It includes insurance agents and doctors.
It should also include a criminal defense attorney.
If not, may the odds be forever in your favor.