Two people arrested after shooting in Columbus Junction

In separate trials earlier this year, Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents in U.S. history to be convicted of manslaughter in connection with a mass shooting committed by their child.

On April 9, they were both sentenced to 10-15 years in prison, the maximum penalty for the crime. Prosecutors argued that the Crumbleys ignored urgent warning signs that their son, Ethan, was harboring violent thoughts and that parents gave him access to the gun he used to kill four classmates and wound seven other people at his school in November 2021.

According to The Marshall Project, legal experts have called the facts of the case unusual, but many are wondering if it sets a precedent for a “slippery slope” that could see more parents prosecuted for their children’s actions. “I don’t have a lot of faith in prosecutorial discretion to cherry-pick cases like this,” Evan Bernick, a law professor at Northern Illinois University, told Al Jazeera. “Once you have a hammer – and this is definitely a hammer – anything can look like a nail.”

Some worry that although the Crumbleys are white, expanding criminal charges against parents for their children’s crimes would disproportionately affect black or poor parents. That’s a concern in Tennessee, where some lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would impose fines of up to $1,000 on parents if a child commits more than one crime.

At least one other school shooting case has also resulted in new adult charges. In Newport News, Virginia, prosecutors charged a former assistant principal with child neglect. The charges were brought after a grand jury report concluded that school administrators ignored four warnings from students and staff that a 6-year-old boy had a gun at school. The boy shot and killed his teacher the same day. As in the Crumbley case, the charges against a school principal are believed to be the first of their kind, and prosecutors said Thursday that more charges could follow.

Deja Taylor, the child’s mother, was sentenced in December to two years in prison for child neglect. That sentence was added to an additional 21 months in prison for federal crimes related to the purchase of the gun used.

The Newport News elementary school shooting set a legal precedent for the question of how young a child is to be prosecuted. Prosecutors have since said they will not charge the boy, but there is nothing legally preventing them from doing so. Last month, Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have prevented prosecutors from charging children under 11, arguing that doing so would undermine public safety.

A group of former and current prosecutors spoke favorably of Youngkin’s decision, arguing in a USA Today opinion piece, “A child who can barely read needs treatment, not incarceration, and there are countless ways to take responsibility for that and also give the child the support necessary to develop and thrive without having to go to court or face charges.”

There is also debate in Maryland about whether parents should be held accountable for their children’s actions and how young a child is to be prosecuted. Lawmakers there passed a bill that would allow prosecutors to charge children as young as 10 with certain crimes. Previously, the age limit was 13. The move comes as some crimes, particularly car thefts, allegedly committed by young people are on the rise. It also follows two high-profile mass shootings involving young people last year. But the measure also comes against a backdrop of an overall decline in juvenile crime in the state over the past decade.

According to a report by Brenda Wintrode of the Baltimore Banner, only a handful of children in Maryland are charged each year with the crimes outlined in the new law, according to advocates on both sides. Opponents of the law said it was unnecessary to deal with such a rare case. Critics also generally argue that involving the juvenile justice system would lead to more crime rather than prevent it. Supporters of the law said that given the small number of incidents, the law would not lead to a significant increase in the number of children involved in the system.

Children are not the only ones who could be more frequently involved in the system in Maryland going forward. In a statement announcing the arrest of 20 young people charged with crimes earlier this month, Baltimore District Attorney Ivan Bates specifically mentioned “parental responsibility” and warned, “From now on, if you are found to be contributing to the delinquency of a minor child, my office will seek to charge you and hold you accountable.”

This story was produced by The Marshall Projecta nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and maintain national awareness of the urgency of the U.S. criminal justice system, reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.