Spanking Still Legal in California

Sally Lieber, the Democratic Assemblywoman from Mountain View, California, on Thursday dropper her proposal to ban spanking of children under the age of 4. Instead, the politician, who had previously been best known as the author of California's minimum wage increase, is preparing to submit a revised version of her child punishment bill.

Lieber, who has no children, attracted attention nationwide last month with her proposal to protect children from being spanked. The idea was ridiculed on television shows, including "Saturday Night Live," and "The Colbert Report."

The original bill, which was never submitted to the California legislature, would have banned any type of corporal punishment, including striking a child "with an open palm on the buttocks," of any child younger than 4. The assemblywoman admitted that she knew the bill as originally planned would not have had the votes. It was opposed, she said, by members of both parties, and that many of her colleagues had told her in person that they could not support a ban on spanking.

The new bill, which was introduced on Thursday, will help district attorneys more easily prosecute parents who cross the line between discipline and abuse. The new bill, if successful, would attempt to clarify the current California law that makes it a crime to inflict "unjustifiable" physical pain. Among the abuses which would become explicitly illegal are: hitting a child with a stick or paddle or slapping a 2-year-old in the face.

In addition, the revised legislation also attempts to curb abuse for minors. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the bill seeks to "ban anyone from hitting a child with an implement such as a stick, rod, switch, electrical cord, extension cord, belt, broom or shoe. Throwing, kicking, burning or cutting a minor also would not be allowed. Striking a child with a closed fist would also be illegal, as would choking."