Chapter 11 - THE LAW DOES NOT CALL IT SYMBOLIC
Police reviewed the ankle restraint.
Short chain.
No injury beyond temporary redness and a scraped knee.
Still intentional confinement of a child.
My mother-in-law’s attorney tried one phrase exactly once:
“Symbolic restraint.”
The prosecutor asked:
“Could the child leave?”
“No.”
The phrase disappeared.
She entered a negotiated plea to a misdemeanor child-endangerment/unlawful-restraint-related offense appropriate to the jurisdiction and facts.
Probation.
Counseling.
Community service.
No unsupervised contact with our daughter.
No involvement in disciplining minor relatives.
No jail.
No ridiculous kidnapping sentence.
The conduct was serious enough without exaggeration.
Then me.
My slap.
My daughter was already free.
My mother-in-law was not attacking anyone when I struck her.
I accepted misdemeanor diversion.
Anger-management counseling.
Community service.
No further violent conduct.
Dismissal after completion.
My husband never called my slap justified.
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He also never pretended he had not wanted to do the same thing.
Both adults kept their own conduct.
