Leanne Shepherd and Lucy Jarrett are detective constables (that translates to “police officers” in English) in the U.K. They job share so their hours are split. Shepherd has a 2-year old daughter, Jarrett a 3-year old daughter. The job sharing allows them trade babysitting with each other. Perfect arrangement, right?
Not so fast. These two police officers are breaking the law. According to a U.K. government agency, neither is registered with the government as a “child-minder” and therefore they are not lawfully allowed to babysit each others’ child. And really, one does have to question how responsible a constable could be. Clearly, no one can simply assume that someone able to exercise the authority of a detective constable would be qualified to care for another person’s child.
Thankfully we live in America where this kind of thing would never happen. Oh wait. Lisa Snyder in Middleville, Michigan has a school bus stop in front of her house. Some of her neighbors need to leave for work before the bus arrives so Lisa Snyder watches their children for 15 to 40 minutes until the bus arrives. She does this for free. Er…that is, she did it for free until Michigan’s Department of Human Service received a complaint that she was running an illegal child care center. Now the state is threatening her with jail time and a $1000 fine. All in the name of “protecting the children”. Because we all know that forcing children into a faceless day care center is much better than allowing parents to make decisions about who is able to watch their children.
Instead of “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” we are fast becoming the land of the regulated and the home of the government.
(Hat tip: Overlawyered)