Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Adoption as a PLEA BARGAIN!!
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Deadly breast milk gets mother 9 months in jail
Her 5-month-old daughter died after being fed cocaine-tainted milk
Updated: 5:56 p.m. ET Feb 7, 2007
WEST BRANCH, Mich. - A woman accused of causing her infant daughter’s death by feeding her breast milk tainted with cocaine was sentenced Wednesday to nine months behind bars on a reduced charge.
Sara Shelby pleaded guilty last month to a charge of attempted manslaughter in the Aug. 21, 2005, death of 5-month-old Karie Lee Bowman.
She originally was charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony that could have meant 15 years in prison, but she agreed to a plea deal in which she would terminate her parental rights to her other child, a 5-year-old girl.
Police said Shelby, 24, of West Branch, told them she had used cocaine two or three times the day before her daughter’s death.
A medical examiner ruled that the girl died of cocaine intoxication.
While children need protection, this sets a dangerous precedent for all nursing mothers. What about those who drink or smoke while breastfeeding?
AND...why should the infant suffer PERMANENT separation from her mother when rehab has not yet even been tried???
Coercion? This is adoption by extortion. Give up your child or sit in jail for 15 years! Attempted manslaughter?
"The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the mens rea, or state of mind. This is particularly true within the law of homicide, where murder requires either the intent to kill, or a state of mind called malice, or malice aforethought, which may involve an unintentional killing but with a willful disregard for life. The less serious offense of manslaughter, on the other hand, is the taking of human life but in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. Manslaughter is usually broken down into two distinct categories: voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter....involuntary manslaughter [as opposed to voluntary] sometimes called criminally negligent homicide in the United States or culpable homicide in Scotland, occurs where there is no intention to kill or cause serious injury but death is due to recklessness or criminal negligence." Wikipedia
Deadly breast milk gets mother 9 months in jail
Her 5-month-old daughter died after being fed cocaine-tainted milk
Updated: 5:56 p.m. ET Feb 7, 2007
WEST BRANCH, Mich. - A woman accused of causing her infant daughter’s death by feeding her breast milk tainted with cocaine was sentenced Wednesday to nine months behind bars on a reduced charge.
Sara Shelby pleaded guilty last month to a charge of attempted manslaughter in the Aug. 21, 2005, death of 5-month-old Karie Lee Bowman.
She originally was charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony that could have meant 15 years in prison, but she agreed to a plea deal in which she would terminate her parental rights to her other child, a 5-year-old girl.
Police said Shelby, 24, of West Branch, told them she had used cocaine two or three times the day before her daughter’s death.
A medical examiner ruled that the girl died of cocaine intoxication.
While children need protection, this sets a dangerous precedent for all nursing mothers. What about those who drink or smoke while breastfeeding?
AND...why should the infant suffer PERMANENT separation from her mother when rehab has not yet even been tried???
Coercion? This is adoption by extortion. Give up your child or sit in jail for 15 years! Attempted manslaughter?
"The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the mens rea, or state of mind. This is particularly true within the law of homicide, where murder requires either the intent to kill, or a state of mind called malice, or malice aforethought, which may involve an unintentional killing but with a willful disregard for life. The less serious offense of manslaughter, on the other hand, is the taking of human life but in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. Manslaughter is usually broken down into two distinct categories: voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter....involuntary manslaughter [as opposed to voluntary] sometimes called criminally negligent homicide in the United States or culpable homicide in Scotland, occurs where there is no intention to kill or cause serious injury but death is due to recklessness or criminal negligence." Wikipedia
# posted by Senior Mom @ 7:17 PM 
Comments:
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And where will the courts/social services/agencies find the drug-free, smoke-free,alcohol-free,divorce-free,abuse-free virgin adoptive families?
There are already way too many children in foster care in this country who have no legal family anymore. Their families' parental rights have been terminated, and the children now have NO family at all.And people are not exactly clamoring to adopt them.
Richard Wexler has some information about these issues on his website. His organization is the NCCPR..the National Coaltion for Children Protection Reform.
There are already way too many children in foster care in this country who have no legal family anymore. Their families' parental rights have been terminated, and the children now have NO family at all.And people are not exactly clamoring to adopt them.
Richard Wexler has some information about these issues on his website. His organization is the NCCPR..the National Coaltion for Children Protection Reform.
# posted by 
: 12:11 PM
: 12:11 PM 
vgklhxThis goes a bit over the line in being "understanding." This woman already killed one child. That is something rehab and parenting classes won't fix. In this case I think removing the remaining child from her custody is reasonable and needed for the safety of the child. Any nursing mother so drugged up she would ingest enought coke to kill the baby is dangerous and does not deserve her other kid. This is NOT about a mom who had a beer or glass of wine or even a cigarette. How can you compare the two?
# posted by : 3:08 PM
: 3:08 PM
Alcohol and nicotine are drugs. Their legality does not change the fact that they are dangerous to the people who ingest them and to their unborn children. Ever hear of fetal alcohol syndrome? This case is the first step in criminalizing women for harming their fetuss by use of such substances.
Drug addiction is an illness and it is curable. She and her daughter deserve the support to remain together. For goodness sake, OJ got custody of his two kids!
Mothers are judged very stringently - much differently than men.
Drug addiction is an illness and it is curable. She and her daughter deserve the support to remain together. For goodness sake, OJ got custody of his two kids!
Mothers are judged very stringently - much differently than men.
But this case is not about a fetus,it was a living child that the mother poisoned by her reckless and excessive use of an illegal drug. And who was taking care of the other child while this negligent mother was too high to know what she was doing? Also it said she agreed to the plea bargain, maybe she was relieved to rid of the other child as well.
This case is a bad example to cite for mother's rights and it has zero to do with OJ or men getting custody. Although in many cases the system is too quick to remove children from natural parents, in this case it seems that the right thing was done.
And by the way, while nicotine and cocaine are harmful to all, alcohol in moderation is actually healthful and won't hurt a nursing mom or baby. Your comparisons and "slippery slope" do not hold up to reason.
This case is a bad example to cite for mother's rights and it has zero to do with OJ or men getting custody. Although in many cases the system is too quick to remove children from natural parents, in this case it seems that the right thing was done.
And by the way, while nicotine and cocaine are harmful to all, alcohol in moderation is actually healthful and won't hurt a nursing mom or baby. Your comparisons and "slippery slope" do not hold up to reason.
# posted by : 8:40 AM
: 8:40 AM
I am sure many would agree with you. I, on the other hand, try not to throw stones. Since there were no charges for child abuse or b=neglect related to her older child, why assume that because she was ingesting a substance than endangered her newborn threw her milk that it impaired her skills as a parent? How many mother drink while caring for children and may even pass out, or doze off, while young children are in their care? How many smoke and endanger their children's health in that way?
Because she agreed to a Sophie's choice does not make it right.
I ask you - who would be harmed by having given this mother and her surviving child a chance at rehab and parenting classes?
This mother already lost one child - what guilt will she have to live with the rest of her life as it is? Now she must suffer the loss of both of hr children? For what crime? Being addicted - which is a SICKNESS???
I try not to judge anyone who's shoes I have not walked in...
Because she agreed to a Sophie's choice does not make it right.
I ask you - who would be harmed by having given this mother and her surviving child a chance at rehab and parenting classes?
This mother already lost one child - what guilt will she have to live with the rest of her life as it is? Now she must suffer the loss of both of hr children? For what crime? Being addicted - which is a SICKNESS???
I try not to judge anyone who's shoes I have not walked in...
It's a damn shame and a real comment about American society when a child can be used as bargaining chip in a plea bargain negotiation.
But you are right about one thing: OJ was a very poor comparison. He committed MURDER..and got away with it, scot free! I better this poor young woman didn't even have one private attorney let alone a team of the top ones.
As for setting a precedent, imagine if you will that this mother is a horrible killer, yet she is allowed to use her child as a "get out of jail free" chip. What about other criminals following in those footsteps??
Children are human being who deserve their welfare and best interests considered on their own merits, not as a bargaining chip.
But you are right about one thing: OJ was a very poor comparison. He committed MURDER..and got away with it, scot free! I better this poor young woman didn't even have one private attorney let alone a team of the top ones.
As for setting a precedent, imagine if you will that this mother is a horrible killer, yet she is allowed to use her child as a "get out of jail free" chip. What about other criminals following in those footsteps??
Children are human being who deserve their welfare and best interests considered on their own merits, not as a bargaining chip.
adopttalk,
I cannot help but wonder how the older child feels about this arrangement.
having received quite a number of calls from children who were 'removed" and then grew up in foster care....I have learned that they do not always share the societal view that being removed from their mother/biological family is truly in their "best interest.'
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I cannot help but wonder how the older child feels about this arrangement.
having received quite a number of calls from children who were 'removed" and then grew up in foster care....I have learned that they do not always share the societal view that being removed from their mother/biological family is truly in their "best interest.'
# posted by : 3:36 PM
: 3:36 PM << Home
