News (Media Awareness Project) - US SC: PUB LTE: Treatment, Not Prison |
| Title: | US SC: PUB LTE: Treatment, Not Prison |
| Published On: | 2001-05-31 |
| Source: | New York Times (NY) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-25 18:12:04 |
TREATMENT, NOT PRISON
To the Editor:
Re "Stillborn Justice," by Bob Herbert (column, May
24):
Regina McKnight, a South Carolina woman, was recently sentenced to 12 years
in prison for homicide because she gave birth to a stillborn, late-term fetus.
Ms. McKnight was prosecuted because both she and her stillborn baby tested
positive for cocaine. Ms. McKnight is only the latest in a long line of
South Carolinians to be prosecuted for the crime of being poor, pregnant,
African-American and addicted to drugs.
Addiction is a disease, and it should be met with treatment, not incarceration.
KATHY MOORE
President, Charleston Chapter National Organization for Women Charleston,
S.C., May 25, 2001
To the Editor:
Re "Stillborn Justice," by Bob Herbert (column, May
24):
Regina McKnight, a South Carolina woman, was recently sentenced to 12 years
in prison for homicide because she gave birth to a stillborn, late-term fetus.
Ms. McKnight was prosecuted because both she and her stillborn baby tested
positive for cocaine. Ms. McKnight is only the latest in a long line of
South Carolinians to be prosecuted for the crime of being poor, pregnant,
African-American and addicted to drugs.
Addiction is a disease, and it should be met with treatment, not incarceration.
KATHY MOORE
President, Charleston Chapter National Organization for Women Charleston,
S.C., May 25, 2001
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