CNN Quotes Professor Bala on Parental Liability in San Diego Mosque Shooting

Professor Nila Bala spoke to CNN for a May 24 report exploring potential prosecution of the parents of a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old suspect in the San Diego mosque shooting. Three people were killed in the May 18 attack.

The suspects were found dead with self-inflicted gunshot wounds, but the parents of each still could be held responsible--especially in the case of the minor suspect, who took weapons from his family home.

If the parents can demonstrate compliance with California secure-storage and child-access prevention laws, criminal liability “becomes much harder to establish,” Bala told CNN. “The question might then shift to whether the secure storage was truly secure, or whether there were known vulnerabilities.” 

Nila Bala is a scholar of children’s rights, criminal law, and evidence. Her work examines how law structures childhood, particularly through criminal law, emerging technologies, and systems of surveillance and punishment. At King Hall, she teaches Criminal Law, Evidence, and Children and the Law.

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