Yes, a parent can be made to testify against a child. There is no
parent-child privilege, as we found out when Monica Lewinsky's mother was
called as a witness before the grand jury which was investigating Monica's
conduct with former President Clinton.
Examples of privileges that do exist are those between husband and wife,
attorney and client, doctor and patient, priest and penitent.
Many people believe that there is a need for a family privilege in this
country, but so far the federal courts have refused to recognize it. I'm not
aware of any states that provide for such protection. And family privilege
bills that have been introduced to date before Congress have not passed.
Further, even if there were such a privilege, if the parent and child engaged
in the criminal activity together, the privilege wouldn't apply. This is
called the "crime-fraud" exception to testimonial privilege.
Answered on May 08th, 2001 at 12:00 AM