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Law and Gender

Pace University

Mothers

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Babies Behind Bars: An Evaluation Of Prison Nurseries In American Female Prisons And Their Potential Constitutional Challenges, Seham Elmalak Jun 2015

Babies Behind Bars: An Evaluation Of Prison Nurseries In American Female Prisons And Their Potential Constitutional Challenges, Seham Elmalak

Pace Law Review

This note opens the prison doors and delves into the United States female prison system, primarily focusing on the positive and negative impact of nursery programs on mothers and children, along with potential constitutional claims that can be brought against these programs. Part I provides a general background about the American prison system, and briefly touches on the constitutional standards of prisoners’ rights. It also discusses the history and development of female prisons and illustrates the rapid increase of female incarceration. Part II focuses on the prevalence of mothers within the female population in prisons. Part III introduces prison nursery …


In The Name Of Fetal Protection: Why American Prosecutors Pursue Pregnant Drug Users (And Other Countries Don't), Linda C. Fentiman Jan 2009

In The Name Of Fetal Protection: Why American Prosecutors Pursue Pregnant Drug Users (And Other Countries Don't), Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

For more than three decades, American prosecutors have been bringing criminal prosecutions against pregnant women based on their use of drugs while pregnant, with charges ranging from child abuse or neglect to murder. Almost all of these women are poor, and the vast majority are also women of color--many with histories of childhood sexual or physical abuse and mental disability. In all but three states-Alabama, Kentucky, and South Carolina--such prosecutions have been declared unconstitutional or the resulting convictions have been overturned. Nonetheless, prosecutions continue to be brought, in what can only be described as a crusade against pregnant women in …