Article: JURY RULES SLAP NOT ASSAULT.(NEWS)

Byline: Associated Press

HOWELL, Mich. -- A woman who slapped her 18-year-old daughter for staying out all night was acquitted of assault charges Friday in a case that prompted parents to rally around the right to discipline their children.

A jury of four women and two men took about an hour to find Deborah Skousen innocent of aggravated domestic assault, a charge that carries up to a year in jail.

''I hope it makes a lot of parents feel more comfortable,'' Mrs. Skousen said outside court.

Mrs. Skousen, 47, is the second of two Michigan mothers prosecuted this fall for disciplining their teen-age daughters by slapping. Last month, ...

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