As readers of Secondhand Smoke know, I have been warning for some time that infanticide is in the process of being normalized in the USA and around the world. It is in this context that I found a judge’s decision to dismiss a murder charge so potentially disturbing. Apparently a woman gave birth at 32 weeks gestation and threw the baby in the dumpster. The autopsy reported that the child had oxygen in his lungs and thus concluded, that the baby was born alive. But the judge dismissed at a very preliminary stage of the case, based—according to the story, which is all I know—on evidence that premature still born infants can have oxygen in their lungs and a finding that the woman in question did not have the requisite intent to commit murder.
But isn’t that for a jury to decide? I am not prejudging this case, but it is extraordinary for a judge to dismiss a prosecution at this early stage when there is evidence that could support a guilty verdict. Thus, I worry that what might be at play here is a judge deciding that since the woman could have had an abortion, and since the baby was premature, and since there is contradictory evidence about whether the baby was born alive, why ruin her life? I could be wrong, of course, but it strikes me that this could be a subliminal case of the normalization of infanticide at work.
The DA has refiled the case—which is also unusual in this kind of situation—meaning that a different judge will take a look. It will be interesting to see what transpires.
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