NJ Township Targets Parents in Crackdown on Youth Misbehavior
The new ordinance “imposes maximum fines of $2,000, plus the possibility of up to 90 days in jail, for adults whose children continuously commit unruly acts.”
Under a newly passed ordinance in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, parents can be fined, criminally charged, and even jailed for their children’s illegal behavior.
The Minors and Parents Responsibility Ordinance holds parents and guardians of minors accountable if they “fail to prevent their children from breaking the law.”
Officials proposed the measure after “multiple fights were instigated by a crowd that swelled to more than 500 kids and young adults” during the Gloucester Township Day and Drone Show in June 2024, according to NJ.com.
The outlet reported that 11 people, nine of whom were minors, were arrested, and that three police officers were injured during the incident.
In a social media post, the Gloucester Township Police Department portrayed the Drone Show as “the last straw” following a series of other “incidents of youth misbehavior.”
It was introduced in response to incidents of youth misbehavior, including disruptions at events like 2024’s Gloucester Township Day and Drone Show.
— GloucesterTwpPolice (@GloTwpPolice) August 7, 2025
The outlet reported that officials in the southern New Jersey township postponed this year’s Drone Show after social media posts suggested similar disruptions might occur. “In light of the violence,” officials said they are rethinking the future viability of the event.
Glo Twp Minors And Parents Responsibility Ordnance- Adopted: July 28, 2025. The ordinance holds parents, legal guardians, or anyone responsible for a minor accountable for public disturbances caused by the child. pic.twitter.com/2QOReHsbwF
— GloucesterTwpPolice (@GloTwpPolice) August 7, 2025
The new ordinance “imposes maximum fines of $2,000, plus the possibility of up to 90 days in jail, for adults whose children continuously commit unruly acts. … [It] includes 28 offenses that could make caretakers liable. They range from felonies, loitering, breaking curfew and chronic truancy to immorality, habitual vagrancy and knowingly associating with immoral people.”
Police Chief David Harkins told NJ.com, “Our ordinance was actually sampled from other towns. We’re not necessarily the first, but we’re probably the first bigger town to adopt it.”
He added that “parents will first be warned instead being assessed fines.”
The Jersey Shore town of Wildwood instituted a similar measure last year after dealing with criminal behavior from minors.
While the passage of this ordinance will no doubt stir controversy, it may be an idea whose time has come. A responsible parent should know where their children are, what they are doing, and who they are with. Most parents take that responsibility seriously, but there are too many who leave their children to their own devices — often with troubling results. These are the parents who will be most affected by the ordinance, and they won’t like it.
Supporters of this measure feel that if parents kept a closer eye on what their kids are doing — whether that’s checking in on social media or setting some firm ground rules at home — it could go a long way toward stopping the kind of trouble that spoils community events and puts people at risk. Critics might call the ordinance government overreach, but those in favor see it as common sense: if we want our public spaces to be safe and welcoming, accountability has to start at home.
Maybe officials in Washington, D.C., should consider a version of this.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
Well surprise, surprise. It’s called accountability, they are responsible for their children. Maybe the parents have never been held accountable for their own behavior?
And if the parents try to control their children, up to and including physical punishment – do the laws still consider that child abuse? If the parents are responsible for their children, are they also given authority over them, including to overrule school determinations and/or allow them to play unsupervised?
At least as described here, this sounds like the all-too-typical political ploy of, “We must do something. This is something. We must do this.”
this was first thing I thought of also.
If they’re don’t allow parents to parent (i.e., objecting to porn in schools or schools “transitioning” their children, or correcting other aberrant behavior), they shouldn’t be holding parents accountable.
That was my first thought. If their schools allow name changing / pronouns or transitioning without notifying parents then it’s hypocrisy. Parents would have stronger basis for lawsuits. I support the legislation. Wonder what the population stats are on race?
The feral children of single mothers.
which is why the law will be completely toothless.
this is where the cry of ( and admission of guilty) this effects poc the most
I read where the naacp told parents that they need to start looking into their kids backpacks for weapons etc
the trump effect !!!!maga
while the passive weak ineffectual ( mostly) wht parents wait for the government to do something about the ( mostly) poc wilders rule the streets
and guns and other objects get the blame…while the wilders escape punishment and whose identities are kept quiet
come on maga
step up to the plate
How will these laws actually work in practice? Will the application be race blind? I doubt it. Another thing that sounds good on paper, but in reality will have consequences some people won’t like. What happens when most of the parents (single parent?) that get punished are black? Then we get into disparate impact, Soros prosecutors, rogue judges etc.
I see your first sentence was rhetorical.
“continuously”
and there you go..the out they need
“raise the age” >>if you dont know what that lefty trickery is about ..take a moment
“knowingly associating with immoral people”
I don’t know about that.
Who determines what is ‘immoral’ and how many time you have to do it to become an ‘immoral person’?
What if I consider that all Democrats are immoral people. Would I be allowed to fine and/or imprison people for “knowingly associating” with democrats?
You raise a good point and I thought the same thing.
But Rhode Island is a blue state, and went for Kamala Harris in 2024.
You question may be more accurate is you asked “What if I consider that all Republicans are immoral people.”
Arrest that kid and his parents!!! He is wearing a MAGA hat and a tee-shirt that advocates the Second Amendment!!
This is NJ, just for the record…
For the record, you are 100% absolutely correct.
I think I was thinking about the story above this one where Portsmouth, Rhode Island let an illegal immigrant pedophile out of custody after an ICE detainer was issued.
Still, New Jersey went to Harris and is a blue state as well.
My apologies for the error. It was sloppy on my part.
Thanks for the correction.
“Rat in a cage” managers are in the unenviable position of being accountable for poor employee performance, but lacking the authority to hire and fire.
I can see policies like this leading to Rat-in-a-cage parents.
“The Minors and Parents Responsibility Ordinance holds parents and guardians of minors accountable if they “fail to prevent their children from breaking the law.”
Fair only if the town authorities are help responsible and fined every time they “fail to prevent” an adult from breaking the law.
help -> held
The left will do anything except hold criminals accountable for their own actions
The same parents that have no “right” to HIPAA information after 14? The same parents the schools hide transitioning from? Those same parents? Now they are responsible for the kids in your eyes? GTFO.
I may be proven wrong but this will probably only apply to white people. I see no chance of a black woman being jailed due to the fact her 14 year old son has a 3 page rap sheet.
I have worked with kids my entire adult life. Everything from good kids to troubled kids to kids that are victims of abuse.
One thing that I have learned is that the time to train a kid in what is right and wrong is before they become teens. Once teenagers, the horse has left the barn and it is damned near impossible to get the kids back on the right path.
I was with you, Elizabeth, until you suggested a federal version of this law. I’m kind of shocked at reading the suggestion, especially here at Legal Insurrection.
Are you thinking of acts committed while on federal property, or something else?
In general, we don’t need to turn some punk’s disorderly conduct cases into a federal crime.
Well, Hillary did say, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Although nowadays “It takes a prison” might be more apt.
IMO eliminating liberal prosecutors and the bail reform laws, no pass for crimes like shoplifting, and universal school choice – where every penny follows the child – would fix this country in a generation. IMO anything less and the decline from a civil society into anarchy will continue, aggravated by the consequences of Biden’s supposed 20M of illegal aliens.
Hi Norris: I didn’t mean to suggest a federal version of this measure. The prevalence of minors committing crimes in Washington, D.C. has been in the news a lot lately. And it’s not just some punk’s disorderly conduct. It’s carjackings and the like. Judge Jeanine Pirro, the newly minted U.S. Attorney for D.C. rightly believes that minors who commit crimes are coddled and shielded from the consequences of their actions. And that parents have a responsibility to rein in their children’s behavior.
IMO this is misguided. The goal is to get the punk ass teens under control. If the Parent’s can’t/won’t then remove the teens to a supervised detention facility to learn boundaries, self control, discipline and to curtail emotional outbursts. This should be a three step process;
First offense -jam up the teen with an arrest, booking and community service after school and on weekends for 3 months. Hit the Parents with a simple citation for failure to know where and what the teens are doing. This alerts the Parents, gives the Parents an opportunity to ask for more vigorous State intervention and hopefully gets the teens attention with compulsory service.
Second offense – same plus 30 days in juvenile hall plus a fee based citation to the Parents plus a last opportunity to ask for help/assistance.
Third offense – drop the hammer on the Parents with another fine and declare them unfit Parents. Teens go to juvenile hall/work camp till they are 18.
That’s assuming this is relatively minor criminal mischief. If felonies are involved then slam these teens into a youth work camp immediately. If serious felonies put them into adult prison.
Society must stop coddling teens and unfit Parents who refuse to discipline their children. Otherwise we only delay the inevitable day they are.charged as adults when they turn 18 and commit serious crimes after.cutting their teeth as juvenile offenders.
If the parents testify that the children refuse to obey and need some time out in juvenile detention, what will the authorities do?
If a teacher tells pupils that they do not need to obey their parents, how much jail time will the teacher get?