MISPLACED
ACCOUNTABILITY
Under Nevada’s broad neglect framework, survivors of domestic violence can be subject to invasive investigation, punitive legal action, and loss of custody to the state if it is determined that their children were exposed to the incident.
INSTITUTIONALIZED VICTIM-BLAMING
In nearly all criminal settings, punishment is imposed on the perpetrator of a crime or on a person who assists, conceals, or enables the offense. Nevada’s child-welfare system departs from this principle by treating non-offending parents as responsible for events they did not cause or consent to, and could not control.
A person with no legal authority over another should not be held legally liable for their actions.
A parent who's house was robbed while their children were home, even if they left a window open for fresh air, would not be charged with failure to protect their children from exposure to the incident.
CRIMINAL LIABILITY
A parent who is mugged while walking down the street with their children, even if in a high-crime neighborhood, would not be charged with failure to protect their children from exposure to the incident.
The criminal is solely liable for the crime
Victims are not responsible for crimes committed against them
Spouses and partners are NOT liable for the actions of one another, which they have no authority over.
Employers are responsible for the actions of their employees while performing job duties
Pet owners are liable for the behavior of their animals
VICARIOUS LIABILITY
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Legal responsibility for
the actions of another
Active involvement
in a crime
PARTICIPATION
LIABILITY
Conspiracy
2+ people agreeing to commit a crime, taking at least one act to move that plan forward.
Accessory
After the Fact
Helping someone cover up a crime they have committed to avoid arrest, prosecution, or punishment.
Accomplice
Liability
Knowingly participating in or assisting a crime, even without committing the main act.
Aiding & Abetting
Intentionally helping or encouraging someone to commit a crime.
Accessory
Before the Fact
Helping plan or encourage a crime before it happens, without being present when it occurs.
The victim of domestic violence is the target of abuse, not a participant.
Danger resulting from a
person's own conduct
Reckless Endangerment
Criminal
Negligence
Depraved Indifference
Gross
Negligence
A serious failure to be reasonably careful, where a person creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm.
Knowingly engaging in conduct that creates a substantial risk of serious harm to others.
Extreme recklessness that shows a complete disregard for human life and a willingness to risk causing death or serious injury.
Substantial deviation from reasonable care and demonstrates a serious disregard for the safety or lives of others.
RISK
CREATION
LIABILITY
It is not the victim's inaction, but the perpetrator's violent action
that exposes children to emotional harm.
OMISSION
LIABILITY
Failure to Supervise
Failure to Rescue
Failure to
Provide
Necessities of
Life
Failing to provide reasonable oversight, placing a legal dependent in an immediate dangerous physical situation despite
ability to prevent harm.
Failing to intervene in an immediate and life-threatening physical emergency, despite established duty and ability to assist.
Failing to provide essential needs to a dependent despite the legal responsibility and the practical ability to do so.
Intentional, willful inaction
A victim of violence can not be expected to physically overpower their abuser, or to have the ability to control or prevent the violence inflicted on them.
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DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
VICTIMS
The criminal who committed the crime
Legal authority over the actor
Active involvement in the crime
Ability to prevent the harm
Danger resulting from personal conduct
Encouraged or agreed to the crime
Helped to plan the crime
Willful inaction & ability to stop the act
even when they:
Did not want it
Tried to prevent it
Tried to stop it
Shielded the children from it
Were physically injured by it
Were traumatized by it
Reported it to authorities
Legally required to share custody
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FAILURE
TO
PROTECT