What is the name of your state? Illinois
Recently my son (17) was detained for retail theft. He was caught taking a $5.00 bottle of cough medicine. When the store called they said they would not have him arrested, but instead would release him to me. When I asked what the circumstances of the arrest were, their response was that I would have to talk to my son. Upon meeting with security personnel, I was given a letter regarding the civil demand process and was also given a “release” form to sign. The document stated that I agreed to release the store from all liability and not to sue them. Basically they agreed not pursue theft charges against my son, if I agreed not to sue them. Obviously this raised a red flag and I immediately thought, “What happened here, that I would want, or need, to sue the store?” I told the security personnel I had no idea that I had to sign something releasing them from “liability” in order to take my son home. I stated that I would sign an acknowledgement of what I knew had occurred: the store had detained my son alleging he had committed retail theft, but they did not want to pursue criminal charges and instead were releasing him to my custody. I further understood I may be contacted in the future regarding a civil claim. They stated this form was their store policy and because I didn’t sign, they immediately called police and my son was arrested.
First and foremost, let me state I fully understand my son allegedly committed retail theft and the store was being gracious about offering to release him to me. But I did not think it was in my best interest to sign a document releasing the store from all liability and agreeing not to sue them when I had no knowledge of what occurred during and after his apprehension, nor was I allowed to talk to him about it. Regardless of what crime was committed, the store still does not have to right to injure or mistreat him. If they had, by signing this release I was waiving my legal right to pursue them for damages. They way I saw it, the theft and the release of the store’s responsibility were 2 separate issues. It felt legally and morally wrong for me to trade my son’s physical welfare, for the threat of criminal charges.
In any event, I plan on going to court with my son and having him plead guilty and request court supervision. But do I have any recourse in this situation? Does what I described above play a part in this at all? Or is the store able to do anything they want, even if means trading away someone’s civil rights to avoid criminal charges? Doesn’t this resemble extortion? Please let me know how I should proceed. Thank you very much in advance!
Recently my son (17) was detained for retail theft. He was caught taking a $5.00 bottle of cough medicine. When the store called they said they would not have him arrested, but instead would release him to me. When I asked what the circumstances of the arrest were, their response was that I would have to talk to my son. Upon meeting with security personnel, I was given a letter regarding the civil demand process and was also given a “release” form to sign. The document stated that I agreed to release the store from all liability and not to sue them. Basically they agreed not pursue theft charges against my son, if I agreed not to sue them. Obviously this raised a red flag and I immediately thought, “What happened here, that I would want, or need, to sue the store?” I told the security personnel I had no idea that I had to sign something releasing them from “liability” in order to take my son home. I stated that I would sign an acknowledgement of what I knew had occurred: the store had detained my son alleging he had committed retail theft, but they did not want to pursue criminal charges and instead were releasing him to my custody. I further understood I may be contacted in the future regarding a civil claim. They stated this form was their store policy and because I didn’t sign, they immediately called police and my son was arrested.
First and foremost, let me state I fully understand my son allegedly committed retail theft and the store was being gracious about offering to release him to me. But I did not think it was in my best interest to sign a document releasing the store from all liability and agreeing not to sue them when I had no knowledge of what occurred during and after his apprehension, nor was I allowed to talk to him about it. Regardless of what crime was committed, the store still does not have to right to injure or mistreat him. If they had, by signing this release I was waiving my legal right to pursue them for damages. They way I saw it, the theft and the release of the store’s responsibility were 2 separate issues. It felt legally and morally wrong for me to trade my son’s physical welfare, for the threat of criminal charges.
In any event, I plan on going to court with my son and having him plead guilty and request court supervision. But do I have any recourse in this situation? Does what I described above play a part in this at all? Or is the store able to do anything they want, even if means trading away someone’s civil rights to avoid criminal charges? Doesn’t this resemble extortion? Please let me know how I should proceed. Thank you very much in advance!