new TN drug law tests infants, sends moms to jail [View all]

[niyad]

CHICAGO (WOMENSENEWS)-- Tennessee prosecutors recently announced that they would temporarily delay pursuing assault charges against Mallory Loyola, the first woman arrested under a new Tennessee law designed to prosecute women for "assault . . . while pregnant" if a newborn tests positive for drugs.

Under a deal, she will remain in custody until a bed opens up for her in a Knoxville treatment facility, with her hearing postponed until February, when prosecutors will decide whether to proceed after assessing her progress in rehab, Reuters reported.
This is a step in the right direction, but it also underscores the problem. What we need are more drug treatment facility beds, not more beds in prisons. That's not only humane, it saves money.
In one particularly rigorous study, researchers found that if just 10 percent of eligible offenders were treated in community-based programs instead of going to prison, the criminal justice system would save $4.8 billion. Treating 40 percent would boost savings to an astonishing $12.9 billion.

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There is also the matter of basic fairness. Unless there has been an immaculate conception, why is there not a male responsibility component for protection of the unborn child? In cases where the father is a drug abuser who may have encouraged the mother's addiction, is he not at least as culpable?


Finally, laws like this can only contribute to the skyrocketing number of poor, addicted and abused women--often mothers--populating the nation's prisons. The number of children under age 18 with a mother in prison more than doubled between 1991 and 2007. All in all, the number of women in prison increased more than sevenfold between 1980 and 2010, growing from just over 15,000 to close to 113,000. The vast majority of incarcerated women have been victims of domestic or sexual abuse.

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http://womensenews.org/story/crime-policylegislation/140915/new-drug-law-tests-infants-sends-moms-jail#.VBioOFe9a1c