Parents can be held liable for teen drinking

The Missouri General Assembly passed a bill that holds parents criminally liable when they allow teens to drink on their property. It will go into effect in August.
Today's Kansas City Star explores how little a similar law in Kansas has been enforced. The article can be found at http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/11831614.htm
The deaths of Kelsey Ritchie, Jasper, and Anna Iles, Carthage, on March 23, 2001, near Carthage, helped create the push for such a law in Missouri. Miss Ritchie's parents, Steve and Anita Ritchie, sued the parents who they claim allowed drinking to take place on their property during the party that preceded the teens' death.
That argument was rejected in Jasper County Circuit Court because no such law existed in Missouri. Last week, the Missouri Supreme Court refused to hear the Ritchies' appeal.
More information about the case can be found in the May 31 Turner Report.