The issue of one’s right to remain silent under questioning by police often brings with it criticism by the public of this being a “technicality” or “loophole” protecting criminals. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The right to remain silent and thus not incriminate oneself is a genuine protection against government overreach. It prevents the government from taking shortcuts in investigations or compelling false confessions.

However, the right to remain silent does not negate the obligation one has to take responsibility for one’s actions.

Here in Arizona, a case involving the beating death of a high school student at a party by members of a so-called “gang” known as the Gilbert Goons illustrates how parents use protections against the government to protect their children from bearing such responsibility.

This “gang”—an entity here that would survive about three minutes if faced with an actual inner city street gang—consists mainly of affluent white kids playing at “the life.” Comparing these kids to a gang is like saying someone who plays Tour of Duty is a combat veteran.

They are not.

But the cowardly ganging up on individuals is reprehensible, and the violence is real.

The Gilbert and Queen Creek Police—the two leading jurisdictions where these incidents happened—have been the focus of much criticism for their failure to make arrests. This criticism is driven by the least reliable of sources: social media.

Knowing someone committed a crime and being able to prove it are two vastly different things. Making an arrest simply requires the existence of probable cause, a much lower standard than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard to convict.

Arrests trigger timelines, and while they may assuage those whose understanding of the criminal justice system comes from TV, they can also create problems in continuing to investigate.

But a more significant issue is those parents who have refused to allow their “children” to cooperate. Some claim they fear retribution, but I am sure most don’t want the consequences of their kids’ actions to affect their comfortable lives.

As to the first argument, fear of retribution, while no one wants to be a target, there are times when you must take a stand for principles. Being afraid does not prevent violence; it encourages it.

But more importantly, what are we teaching kids when we use the right to remain silent as a shield against responsibility? We teach them to manipulate their rights over others.

What rights does the murder victim enjoy? He had silence involuntarily imposed upon him. And there are people out there who witnessed this terrible crime or perhaps played a part, who are so callous, so cowardly, so inconsiderate as to invoke a right people died to obtain to protect themselves.

A right does not negate responsibility. A right does not offer an escape from behavior. A right does not absolve one from obligations to one’s community.

Any parent who equates using “the right to remain silent” as protecting their children is acting selfishly. They are setting the stage for those same children, when they are adults, to believe they can avoid the things that differentiate children from adults, accepting the consequences of their actions.

What does that say about us as a society? On the one side, we have crafted a form of government with built-in protections against tyranny, yet we are raising our children to avoid responsibility. One is contradictory to the other. Do we want to hand over the world to a generation of people who have learned not how to take a stand against evil but to cower before it?

When the truth comes out, as it always does, and those responsible are caught and tried, they will face their peers’ judgment. And there will be a clear difference between those who took responsibility and those who avoided it.

As there should be.

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