Abuse reporting bills would criminalize teachers, others

The Maryland Senate recently passed legislation that would turn trusted community members into criminals. The House should not follow suit. The new bills propose criminal penalties for certain classes of people required to report child abuse or neglect who “knowingly” fail to do so. Such “mandatory reporters” include our state’s teachers, counselors, social workers and nurses.

Under a law passed in 2016, such a failure can already lead to a loss of the professional’s license. This is draconian enough, but the legislature isn’t stopping there. Instead, it is threatening criminal investigation and prosecution for exercising professional judgment — judgment afforded because of extensive, specialized training, expertise and community trust. For fear of serious jail time and fines, mandatory reporters would be stripped of their well-earned discretion and would be forced to err on the side of reporting, even at the slightest suspicion of child abuse or neglect. A bump on the head, a bruised knee, a small cut — usually normal signs of childhood clumsiness — would now automatically raise suspicion in terrified teachers and pediatricians.

In the proposed bills, the legislature seeks to treat dedicated professionals like robots. It asks experts to draw bright white lines in situations where those lines are often necessarily gray and blurry.