Radio Islam News Team – 29/01/2016

Ronald Jackson had been charged with theft of property after taking his daughter’s iPhone 4 away when he found an inappropriate text in September 2013.

However, a judge ordered for Jackson to be found not guilty on Tuesday citing insufficient evidence to continue the case.

The teenager’s mother, said she called police when the phone was taken away who went to the house and asked for it back.

A warrant was issued for Jackson’s arrest and he was taken into custody at his home in April 2015 before he posted a bail of $1,500 to get out of jail.

The father, who still has the phone, maintains he was just being a parent and was teaching his child, now 15, a lesson after finding inappropriate texts on her phone.

Jackson might have been found not guilty but the case is not over as his lawyer plans to file a federal complaint for civil rights violations over the way Jackson was treated by police and the city attorney’s office.

Radio Islam’s Ml Sulaiman Ravat spoke to attorney Cliff Alexander on Sabahul Islam, where he explains the issue in a South African context.

Alexander says it was never theft in the first place, “if you were a father, irrespective of the age of the child, without the intention to appropriate it, it could never amount to theft”.

He added that the right to discipline within the parameter of the law shows that he acted lawfully.

In South Africa with corporal punishment no longer used, Alexander says there are different ways to discipline kids and taking away a cell phone is a regular occurrence.

“Grounding them, taking away certain privileges, keeping in mind the rights of children and the right to education etc. Also taking in the constitution”.

Alexander adds that the text message in relation to the Texas story, could have had a sexual connotation.

“You as a parent would have a duty to ensure that your child or children are not exposed to something like that, you would have a duty to report it if you were to take your child’s cell phone and view it”.

He noted that there is nothing wrong with viewing your child’s phone although the right to privacy does have its limitations.

“ALL RIGHTS IN A CONSTITUTION ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS”

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