Marshae Jones, Alabama Woman Indicted for Death of Her Fetus, Won't Be Prosecuted
Source: The Daily Beast
An Alabama prosecutor announced Wednesday that she will not prosecute Marshae Jones, the Alabama woman charged in the death of her fetus after she was shot in the stomach.
"There are no winners in this case, only losers in the sad ordeal," Jefferson County District Attorney Lynneice Washington said at a press conference.
The announcement was the latest development in a case that has re-ignited debate over fetal personhood laws, which grant fetuses the same rights as all other citizens. Alabama is one of 38 states that allow fetuses to be classified as victims in homicides or assaults, and a recent constitutional amendment makes it state policy to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.
Womens rights groups argue these laws only serve to criminalize any woman who loses her pregnancy, no matter the circumstance.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/marshae-jones-alabama-woman-indicted-for-death-of-her-fetus-wont-be-prosecuted?via=twitter_page
nycbos
(6,038 posts)Raven123
(4,862 posts)PSPS
(13,614 posts)Jury nullification.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)They think fetuses are more important down there.
PSPS
(13,614 posts)StevieM
(10,500 posts)PSPS
(13,614 posts)DBoon
(22,397 posts)But in Pleasant Grove, a city of 10,000 people on the western outskirts of Birmingham, the case appears to have caused little controversy. Gun rights are popular here. Reproductive rights are not. Many conversations in the city focused on how harshly Ms. Jones should be punished, not whether she was culpable.
Outside Hills Foodland, the citys only grocery store, two mothers raising money for the Pleasant Grove middle school cheerleading squad said that both Ms. Jones, 28, and the woman who shot her should face some consequences perhaps anger management classes for the death of a fetus.
In the state of Alabama, an unborn baby has the same rights as a living child, said Sharonda Hall, 38, who just earned her bachelors degree in criminal justice and is hoping to attend law school. Most people agree with it.
moriah
(8,311 posts)Alabama's fetal homicide law, even when saying fetuses are people, specifically excludes prosecution of a woman criminally for homicide or assault with regard to her own unborn child.
(1) any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf has been obtained or for which consent is implied by law or
(2) any woman with respect to her unborn child.
It is similar to Arkansas's fetal homicide law:
How on earth did this even get through a grand jury? When police here gleefully posted that they'd arrested a woman for murder because they believed her methamphetamine use resulted in the preterm death of her infant, the prosecutor schooled them at the bail hearing that no, that was not allowed or cool.
Who dropped the ball? Does she have a legitimate case for malicious prosecution? The initial media about this case shows the officers involved, even when going with the theory she was shot directly in the abdomen by Ms. Jamison, said the only victim in the case was the child. Not the woman who was shot. Did his malice against Ms. Jones for getting into a fight while pregnant lead to this illegal and unjust indictment?
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,192 posts)StevieM
(10,500 posts)every single miscarriage is treated as a suspected homicide.