|
Pregnancy
I:
Cocaine
Use
is
Not
Child
Abuse,
New
Mexico
Appeals
Court
Says
4/7/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/430/nmruling.shtml
Illicit drug use while pregnant
does not constitute child abuse under New Mexico state law, the state's
Court of Appeals ruled Monday in New
Mexico v. Martinez. In so doing, it threw out the conviction
of a Lea County woman who was convicted of child abuse after her daughter
was born with high levels of cocaine in her blood. The woman admitted
smoking crack and drinking alcohol late in her pregnancy.
The state legislature did
not intend for a fetus to be considered a human being in the context of
the child abuse law, the court held. "This court may not expand the
meaning of 'human being' to include an unborn viable fetus because the
power to define crimes and to establish criminal penalties is exclusively
a legislative function," said the opinion signed by Appeals Court Judge
Ira Robinson.
The ruling follows the precedent
of a 1982 case where the court held that a fetus is not a human being in
the context of the state's vehicular homicide statute. The court
noted that the legislature has enacted laws that specifically include fetuses
under a criminal statute, but that it had failed to do so in this instance.
Assistant Attorney General
Arthur Pepin told the Associated Press he would appeal the ruling to the
state Supreme Court. He argued unsuccessfully that the child abuse
occurred once the baby was born "and the abuse was the continuing act of
essentially having poisoned the child by introducing crack cocaine into
its bloodstream."
But the court didn't buy
it.
-- END --
|
Issue #430
-- 4/7/06
Editorial:
Stopping
Bongs,
Not
Bombs
(Evidently)
|
Feature:
Measure
to
Make
Drug
Czar
Research
"Frankenstein
Fungus"
to
Destroy
Drug
Crops
Heads
to
the
Senate
|
Feature:
Pittsburgh
Needle
Exchange
Under
Attack,
But
May
Come
Out
Ahead
|
Feature:
As
the
Well
Runs
Dry,
Texas
Drug
Task
Forces
Ride
Off
Into
the
Sunset
|
Offer:
Important
New
Legalization
Video
Available
|
Feedback:
Do
You
Read
Drug
War
Chronicle?
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Law
Enforcement:
NYPD
Shuts
Down
Chelsea
Clubs
Over
Drug
Violations
|
Search
and
Seizure:
Cops,
School
District
to
Pay
Students
$1.2
Million
in
Goose
Creek
Raid
Settlement
|
Paraphernalia:
ICE
Raids
South
Florida
Head
Shops
|
Pain
Medicine:
Ohio
Doctor
Freed
on
Bail
During
Appeal
of
Drug
Trafficking
Conviction
|
Pregnancy
I:
Cocaine
Use
is
Not
Child
Abuse,
New
Mexico
Appeals
Court
Says
|
Pregnancy
II:
Expectant
Mothers
Who
Expose
Fetuses
to
Drugs
Can't
Be
Convicted
as
Drug
Dealers
Under
Fetal
Rights
Law,
Texas
Appeals
Court
Rules
|
Medical
Marijuana:
Reagan
Aide
Lyn
Nofziger
Dead
at
81
--
Supported
Patients'
Rights
|
Europe:
Italy
Sets
Quantity
Guidelines
for
Tough
New
Drug
Law
|
Latin
America:
Pro-Coca
Upstart
Poised
to
Win
First
Round
of
Peruvian
Presidential
Election
|
Web
Scan:
WOLA
at
House
Andes
Hearings,
Mycoherbicides
Again,
Broken
Windows
Debunked,
CBC
on
Coca
and
Peru's
Election,
Denver
Post,
Meth
Legalization
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Job
Opportunities:
System
Administrator
and
Grassroots
Organizer
at
MPP
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
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