The law is clear: If Castro terminated McKnight’s pregnancies against her will, he’s guilty of aggravated murder under Ohio law. The question is whether the state can prove that he’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Recently, a 10-year-old child from my daughter’s class asked me this pertinent question: “What’s the point of learning your lesson if you never get a chance to show that you did?” The answer is simple: not much. Unfortunately, rehabilitation is often not at the heart of criminal justice reform. In fact, the harshness of a punishment is frequently not determined by the possibility of recidivism, but rather by public opinion and as a result misses the point.
Yesterday morning, I learned about Delhi Charter School’s unethical and illegal school policy. The school has required teen girls to take pregnancy tests at the discretion of school officials. If a girl refused, she would be sent home from school. If her test came back positive, she would be sent home from school. Sound fair to you?
Being one of many stories of force, fraud, and coercion, Loyda’s case is particularly compelling because all of the steps in the legal system have been followed. Still, there has been no justice.
Court Orders U.S. Mother Must Provide Child Support for Abandoned Russian Adoptee. Start of a Trend?
This past week Torry Hansen was ordered, by a Tennessee judge to pay $150,000 child support for her adopted son, whom she returned to Russia by plane, unaccompanied.
Bei Bei Shuai was charged with murder and attempted feticide while still hospitalized for an emotional breakdown and then spent 435 days in prison. She is now out on bail, but paying for a GPS-enabled ankle bracelet that will cost her $2500 until her trial. What is wrong with this picture?
Even a cursory look at correctional and obesity statistics in the United States reveals deep-seated disparities which knee-jerk reactions—in particular those that blatantly ignore color and class—cannot fix.
Must “restoring the historic right to life accorded to unborn children” require that women, including new mothers who have given birth, go to prison?
The prosecution of drug use in pregnant women does nothing to fulfill a legitimate policy goal and in fact seems to be racially motivated—at least in the implementation—rather than spurred by a concern for children.
Stephanie Greene is being charged with murder. Her crime? Breastfeeding her newborn.
