This is just a ridiculous ruling by the Supreme Court of Washington State. It seems parents are losing all their rights over raising their children more and more each day.

Yahoo/AP

In a victory for rebellious teenagers, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a mother violated Washington's privacy law by eavesdropping on her daughter's phone conversation.

Privacy advocates hailed the ruling, but the mother was unrepentant.

"It's ridiculous! Kids have more rights than parents these days," said mom Carmen Dixon, 47. "My daughter was out of control, and that was the only way I could get information and keep track of her. I did it all the time."

The Supreme Court ruled that Dixon's testimony against a friend of her daughter should not have been admitted in court because it was based on the intercepted conversation. The justices unanimously ordered a new trial for Oliver Christensen, who had been convicted of second-degree robbery in part due to the mother's testimony.

The case started with a purse-snatching four years ago that shocked the island town of Friday Harbor, population 2,000. Two young men knocked down an elderly woman, breaking her glasses, and stole her purse. Christensen, then 17, was a suspect.

Sheriff Bill Cumming asked Dixon, whose daughter was friends with Christensen, to be alert for any possible evidence. When Christensen called the Dixon house later, Lacey Dixon, then 14, took the cordless phone into her bedroom and shut the door. The mother hit the "speakerphone" button and took notes on the conversation — in which Christensen said he knew where the purloined purse was.

...

Federal wiretap law has been interpreted to allow parents to record their child's conversations. But Washington privacy law is stricter. Washington is one of 11 states that requires consent from all parties involved before a conversation may be intercepted or recorded.

So you have to let everyone in the conversation know you are listening in before you can record it -- even if it's your child you are responsible 100% for and are legally liable for. I just think that is ignorant. There is privacy law -- which I agree with because no one wants strangers doing it -- but a child is not a legal citizen. As a parent myself I know that if my child is breaking the law or their friends that they hang out with are, I should have the right to know.

The same group telling you that you shouldn't know if your child has an abortion and tells you not to spank your child or discipline them is now behind this bullshit privacy smokescreen to further yank parents rights out of their hands.

And we wonder why there are so many spoiled and screwed up kids in this country.

Tipped by: Say Anything

Other Commentary:

Right Thinking From The Left Coast