A pregnant murder suspect should get out of jail because her fetus hasn’t been charged with a crime and isn’t getting proper medical care, court documents argue
If you ignore the “the fetus is a person” discussion, the critical point remaining is the inadequate medical care.
So in this case it would be easy, ensure proper medical care, topic closed.
Once you make a fetus a person, the legal context gets complicated. Good work from the attorney, their job is to use anything they can to help their client. So no matter if the law or legal philosophy behind it is stupid, if it is there, use it.
Regarding the question if it is acceptable to release her, (again, ignoring the fetus discussion), I think the real question is why she is held in jail in the first place. From what I see in the article, the discussion between prosecutor and defence is, if she acted in self defence or with malicious intent. Does not immediately scream “cold blooded serial killer” to me. So something like house arrest with ankle monitor could be a better approach. But the question is, why this option was not chosen in the beginning.
Kernburner says
This is a good example of how fetal “personhood” laws are a ridiculous concept and create a legal slippery slope.
felixlightner says
Some arguments, like this one, only deserve a single word response. “No.”
JimC29 says
Is this going to be posted here everyday?
pornosucht says
If you ignore the “the fetus is a person” discussion, the critical point remaining is the inadequate medical care.
So in this case it would be easy, ensure proper medical care, topic closed.
Once you make a fetus a person, the legal context gets complicated. Good work from the attorney, their job is to use anything they can to help their client. So no matter if the law or legal philosophy behind it is stupid, if it is there, use it.
Regarding the question if it is acceptable to release her, (again, ignoring the fetus discussion), I think the real question is why she is held in jail in the first place. From what I see in the article, the discussion between prosecutor and defence is, if she acted in self defence or with malicious intent. Does not immediately scream “cold blooded serial killer” to me. So something like house arrest with ankle monitor could be a better approach. But the question is, why this option was not chosen in the beginning.