In Minnesota, as in many other states, parents are able to sign away the rights and protections of their children. Through the use of waivers, all sorts of dangerous activities are made exempt from liability. While the children thankfully in many cases are safe, what happens when they are not? In those cases with waivers the cases are usually thrown out of court.
Recently in Kirton v. Fields, the Florida Supreme Court threw out one of these waivers, holding that the parent doesn’t have the authority to give away a child’s protection. The Florida legislature is now looking at a bill to overturn the case. Basically, to reinstate the contract against the child.
Previously, I blogged about concerns with moonwalks. It looks like the Minnesota legislature is actually looking into a bill covering the needed protections. But, there is still the issue of waivers. This may be the time for the Minnesota legislators to look at this issue.
I’ve signed these waivers for my own boys a number of times. My guess is that most parents rarely give the language much of a thought. The question is if parents can give away the rights of another?
