Brian Holmgren, a former Davidson County assistant district attorney said that he had been fired. He declined to say why he was dismissed, and officials would not discuss what prompted his dismissal.
But the move comes after an investigation revealed that sterilization surgery was used as part of plea bargains at least four times in the past five years in child abuse and neglect cases.
The most recent case first reported by the Tennesean involved Jasmine Randers, 36, who had a 20-year history of mental illness. She had been charged with neglect after her 5-day-old baby mysteriously died, the report says. And her defense attorney says the prosecutor assigned to the case refused to move forward with a plea deal to keep the woman out of prison unless she had the surgery.
Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, a former defense attorney who took over the office in September, recently barred lawyers in the office from demanding sterilization as part of plea bargains.
“The bottom line is the government can’t be ordering a forced sterilization,” Funk told the Associated Press.
While shocking, coerced sterilization by the U.S. legal system is not new.
The practice “evokes a dark time in America, when minorities, the poor and those deemed mentally unfit or ‘deficient’ were forced to undergo medical procedures that prevented them from having children."
If we're not careful those who seek to oppress us will do so one inch at a time. We must remain ever cognoscente and aware of the fiends who seek to steal our liberty.
PR
Yes, it is sad that people are often inhumane to those they consider to be "beneath" them. How do we handle this type of problem, however? We can't tell mentally ill, or neglectful, abusive parents not to pro-create. Lord knows, I have NO understanding about WHY people who don't seem to want children have them anyway. How do we tell a man or woman who is mentally ill not to have children? Should this be something that is decided by a court? As you indicated--this is indeed a slippery slope. When I was in CPS, there were some women who were constantly pregnant--they often abused/neglected their children. On one of my cases, a single mother went to a party on a Saturday night. She said that the girl who would normally be her babysitter was going to the party, also.. She told me that she only left after her child was "asleep" (?)
ReplyDeleteWell, the child woke up. He was frightened to find that his mother was not at home--he couldn't get out of the door, so he climbed out of the open window--only to fall 3 flights. A couple who were coming in unwittingly broke the child's fall, but he was unconscious and bleeding. The police, and an ambulance were called. The couple recognized the little boy, knew that his mother was at a party. When mom got home, she was arrested. I had to testify in court, along with the police officer, the EMTs and the neighbors. The family court decided that the child belonged with his father. Perhaps, the Judge felt that it was the only way out. Should that woman be allowed to have more children---I don't know--maybe not. Should she have tubal ligation done by the State--I don't know.