Bridgewater Twp. – Miss Leona Black, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Black of Watrous Corners, has been seriously ill with typhoid fever. Her condition is much improved. It was thought a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Crossen, of that neighborhood, was ill with the same malady, but it has since developed into a gathering in the head. Also A. O. McCollum has rented his farm in Bridgewater to Geo. Bushnell, who takes possession the first of next month. Mr. McCollum intends spending the winter in California and may remain in that state for several years. His wife and daughters will spend the winter in Lewisburg, where the young ladies are students at Bucknell.

East Lynn – A Women’s Christian Temperance Union was organized at East Lynn and the following officers elected: Pres., Miss Iva States; Vice Pres., Mrs. Burton Taylor; Sec’y, Mrs. Stark Miller; Treas., Mrs. Clyde Travis. The first meeting was held at Mrs. Clyde Travis’, October 30th.

Susquehanna – Last evening the State constabulary were notified of a shooting affray, and upon investigation found that a man by the name of B. H. June, of Hallstead, who was visiting his sister, Mrs. R. N. Henderson, was shot in the right shoulder by an unknown person. Little information could be obtained by the State police from the wounded man, as June claims he did not know who did the shooting, although it was evidently done with the revolver at close range, as his shirt was badly scorched. A 22-calibre revolver, evidently recently purchased, was found in the rear of the Henderson homestead. It seems that June and his wife parted several months ago and that she is now residing on Oak street, this place. The shooting affray is a mystery, although many are inclined to believe that the wound was self-inflicted. (June later confessed he did the shooting.)

Birchardville – There was no school Monday on account of the teacher going down to Lemon on a visit. Also Mr. and Mrs. E. V. Birchard are spending a few days with her mother, Mrs. Vesta Ball. Mr. Birchard shouldered his gun and went on a fox trail.

Montrose – Mr. Somerville, proprietor of the C-Nic Theatre, evidently believes in giving good service in up-to-date pictures to his patrons. On Thursday evening, Nov. 19th, “The Good For Nothing”—an Essanay photoplay masterpiece, in four parts, will be presented.

Hop Bottom – The social announced to be held at Dean Bertholf’s, this week, was postponed until Friday evening, Nov. 20. All guests are invited to attend in fantastic costumes representing some character of Mother Goose lore, and a real Thanksgiving goose will be given to the person best representing such a character.

Harford – There will be a meeting of the Congregational church and society on Saturday, Nov. 14. Every person in Harford desirous of seeing this church continued should attend this meeting, and will be made welcome whether a member or not. A Congregational church can only exist by the will of the people, and everyone interested should certainly be present, if possible. The future depends on this meeting. It is expected there will be preaching services next Sunday morning.

Forest City – Signs with the usual legend, “Run Slow,” have been placed on North and South Main streets which are interpreted by autoists to have the opposite meaning and no attention is paid to the warning. A section of North Main street is very narrow and pedestrians are in constant danger in that section when an auto appears running at great speed, which many of them do.

Hallstead – A new musical organization has been started in Hallstead known as the Junior Band, as follows: George Pursell, O. E. Brunt, and John Barry, cornets; Edward Downy and Perry Brown, snare drums; Ernest Chamberlin, bass drum; John Fernan and Leo Shields, trombones; Robert and Ernest McAuliffe, tenors; Timothy Connor, Jr., alto; George E. Shields, bass; Archie Tanner and Mark O’Neil, flutes. They are under instruction of George Shields.

Lenox – There will be a box social at the residence of Oney Case on Friday evening of this week. The proceeds are to be used for painting and decorating the grammar room of the Hop Bottom school and the teacher, Miss Jeffers, extends a cordial invitation to all. There will be a fish pond and also home-made candy on sale.

Howard Hill, Liberty Twp. – The first real snow storm of the season has arrived, covering Mother Earth with about two inches of the beautiful snow.

Clifford – Fred. F. Scott and wife have moved to Carbondale for the winter to accommodate their daughter, Madelyn, who is attending High School at that place.

Ararat – L. O. Baldwin, although 82 years of age, he would pass for a much younger man, having a steady nerve and clear eye and can rout many a younger man in a game of quoits.

Great Bend – The Campfire Girls, under the direction of Mrs. F. L. White and Mrs. N. H. Parke and others, are making wristlets to send to a hospital in France for the use of the Belgium soldiers.

Lanesboro – Chicken thieves have appeared here. A visit was made to Frank Prentice’s when the lock on the hennery was broken and fifteen fowls secured.

Birchardville – Jacob Robertson died last Thursday night, Nov. 5. A funeral service was held at the home. Prayer by Asa Warner and at 1 o’clock, at Fairdale, Rev. F. A. Bergin preached the sermon. Another old soldier has passed away. [Jacob Robertson was a member of Co. D, Fourth Cavalry. He was a sergeant and enlisted Aug. 20, 1861; re-enlisted Jan. 1, 1864; wounded Feb. 6, 1865 and discharged July 13, 1865.]

Thompson – The residents of Thompson and vicinity responded splendidly to the appeal for contributions to the ship load of the many things that will make possible the only Christmas the homeless and in many cases, the fatherless little tots of European countries involved in the terrible war now raging, will know. Four packing cases of warm clothing, toys and many other things that will gladden these little folks at Christmas time, were shipped from Thompson by express to the United States ship, “Jason,” which leaves Brooklyn Navy Yard, Nov. 10th, on its mission of comfort and good cheer.

At this point, a law school professor could create a criminal justice class based solely upon cases arising out of the NFL.  A few months ago, I did a column that addressed the Ray Rice incident and domestic violence – the NFL ended up looking poorly after a video was released showing Baltimore Ravens’ running back Ray Rice brutally punching and knocking his girlfriend unconscious in a casino elevator.  When the incident originally broke, the NFL gave Rice a short suspension – and then the video cascaded through social media – and the NFL lamely (and incredibly) suggested it was not aware of all the “facts.”  In a clear public relations effort, the NFL unilaterally changed its disciplinary decision and gave Rice an indefinite suspension.  Ray Rice is currently mounting a legal challenge to his “indefinite” suspension.

In terms of his legal problems, Ray Rice resolved his criminal case through a pre-trial diversion program for first-time offenders – and married his victim in the process.  The minimal resolution of his criminal charges likely played a role in the initial decision from the NFL to impose a short suspension – despite having a full description of the offense itself.  A picture is worth a thousand words – and I suspect a video may be worth a million – especially on social media.  For Ray Rice, the video was certainly worth millions of dollars in salary that he lost after his NFL suspension and release by the Baltimore Ravens.

As our NFL criminal class continues, we have another case of brutal violence – Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson’s use of a wooden switch to “discipline” his 4-year old child.  Peterson recently entered a no contest plea to a misdemeanor count of Reckless Injury to a Child.  A no contest plea means that Peterson did not admit to any criminal conduct, but he agreed to suffer the consequences – which amounts to something akin to 2 years of probation, $4,000 fine and 80 hours of community service.  Peterson now seeks to be reinstated to the NFL – and that leaves the NFL with another difficult decision after it is still stinging over the Rice debacle.

The debate that has been swirling around Adrian Peterson centers around “appropriate physical discipline.”  What is appropriate?  How much leeway does a parent have to determine the level of physical discipline to be used on a child?  Can a parent spank a child?  Can a parent spank and leave bruising?  Can a parent use an object – belt, spoon, switch, or other instrument – on a child?  I cannot speak to Texas law, but I can tell you what the Crimes Code provides regarding child discipline.

A parent (or guardian if acting at the parents’ request) is justified in using physical force on a child in limited situations.  First, the force must be used “for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the minor, including the preventing or punishment of his misconduct.”  In other words, you need to have a reason to physically discipline a child and connect the discipline to promoting the minor’s welfare.  Second, there is a proportionality component to the discipline – the force cannot be “designed to cause or known to create a substantial risk of causing death, serious bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress or gross degradation.”  For the most part, a normal “spanking” would never raise to the level of risking death or serious bodily injury – and should not cause “extreme pain or mental distress or gross degradation.”

What about using a wooden spoon like Peterson to teach a 4-year old child a lesson?  There was no risk of death of serious bodily injury – but what about “extreme pain or mental distress or gross degradation.”  The answer to this question centers upon the nature of the injuries that the child suffered in the beating to determine whether there was extreme pain administered, as opposed to average pain.  Generally speaking, in the past 15 years, there have been some parents that ended up in the criminal justice system for “physical discipline” administered on a child – and those cases all involved situations similar to Adrian Peterson’s case.  The cases involved young children with visible and multiple bruising that raised the case outside the world of acceptable parental discipline into the realm of criminal assault.

In the Adrian Peterson debate, I have heard a few voices suggesting that the discipline was appropriate – but those voices are clearly in the minority.  Most people cannot accept the idea of physically beating a 4-year old child to the point of severe bruising as a form of justified punishment.  Ultimately, if the matter went to trial, the question would be for a jury to determine whether the discipline was appropriate or criminal.  Given the public uproar over the Peterson case, a defendant would be hard pressed to convince a jury that it was justified to beat a small child to the point of severe bruising as an appropriate disciplinary measure.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.