https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/430/txruling.shtml

The Texas 7th Court of Appeals in Amarillo has overturned the drug dealing convictions of two Potter County women who admitted using illegal drugs late in their pregnancies. The cases were prosecuted by former Potter County District Attorney Rebecca King, who cited a newly passed state law granting fetuses the rights of individuals -- a reading of the law widely criticized at the time by a spectrum of groups, including the anti-abortion groups that pushed for the law.

In its March 29 opinion in Ward v. Texas, the three-judge appeals court panel overturned the conviction of Tracey Ward, who admitted smoking cocaine after it was detected in the blood of her newborn infant. In a companion opinion, it overturned the conviction of Rhonda Smith, who admitted to having used methamphetamine. But it did not rule on the scope of the law that defined a fetus as an individual.

Instead, the court held a pregnant mother's transfer of a drug to her fetus through ingestion did not constitute delivery of a controlled substance because the fetus never actually "possessed" the drug. "All agree that the 'actual transfer' contemplated here consisted of the ingestion by appellant of a controlled substance that eventually entered into the unborn child's body via conveyance through the umbilical cord," wrote 7th Appeals Court Chief Justice Brian Quinn in the unanimous opinion.

"Nowhere are we cited to evidence suggesting that the unborn child actually handled, touched, manipulated or otherwise exercised physical possession over the drug. Again, the substance was merely discovered in the unborn child's body. And, therein lies the rub, for the majority of jurisdictions that have considered the issue hold that the mere presence of a controlled substance in one's blood or urinary system does not constitute possession."

(At least one state, South Dakota, does make "internal possession" of a drug a crime.)

	Please make a generous donation to support Drug War Chronicle in 2007!

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you.

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Out from the Shadows HEA Drug Provision Drug War Chronicle Perry Fund DRCNet en Español Speakeasy Blogs About Us Home Why Legalization? NJ Racial Profiling Archive Subscribe Donate DRCNet em Português Latest News Drug Library Search special friends links: SSDP - Flex Your Rights - IAL - Drug War Facts StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet) 1623 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor, Washington DC 20009 Phone (202) 293-8340 Fax (202) 293-8344 [email protected]