what justice where?

[rkt]

Police Question Mother, 13, in Baby's Death

Published: January 17, 2005

The mother of a newborn boy left for dead outside a church in the Bronx was identified by the police last night as a 13-year-old girl. She will probably face charges, the authorities said.

The girl can be charged as an adult, NOTE: she's still a "girl", even if she's going to be tried as an adult. however, only if she is accused of intentionally murdering her son, said Steven Reed, the spokesman for the Bronx district attorney's office.

"It's going to be presented to a grand jury," Mr. Reed said. "The question is, is it going to be handled by our office or is it going to be handled in Family Court? We're waiting to hear the cause of death." Juvenile cases are usually heard in Family Court.

The baby, wrapped in towels and stuffed in a bag, was found on Friday outside the Prince of Peace Baptist Church which, i must say, sounds like a pretty safe place to leave a baby, if i didn't know better on East 183rd Street in the Tremont section. He was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital, and the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, said Detective Noel Waters, a police spokesman.

The father of the baby, who is 15, was questioned along with the mother at the 48th Precinct station house, Detective Waters said. It was unclear if he would be charged. later news stories said he would be.Both teenagers were released after questioning, Detective Waters said.

The baby was left only six blocks from the hospital. Under state law, people can leave unwanted children at hospitals without fear of arrest.


HOW do *i* know where to take any unwanted children? (and, actually, i think there's an age limit on this) because every time something like this happens - it's mentioned.
is it mentioned any other time? no. are there signs up in the subway? no. are there comercials on tv? no. or the radio? no. are there billboards on phone booths? no. in schools? no. on top of taxis? no. have i ever heard this law mentioned at any other time, save for when it's already too late? NO.
protective state laws don't mean shit if you're uninformed.

and if you're THIRTEEN years old? in new york, you may (currently) be able to get an abortion/birth control services on your own to keep this from happening, but this is provided you KNOW this and can AFFORD it.
however, may not be old enough to (legally): vote, drive a car, buy liquor/tobacco/porn, join the military, generally open your own bank account, have your own credit card, stay out past city-imposed curfew, be employed by most employers, get into R (or NC-17) movies, rent an apartment by yourself, easily open your own public assistance case, get a loan, be respected. . . . but goddamnit, you just might be old enough to be tried as an adult.

Comments

[androgy8.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think it's absurd. Particularly because this is a 13 yr old girl, probably 12 when she got pregnant. She needs help much more than to be locked up. There is no legal way for her to get pregnant; why aren't prosecutors concerned with ascertaining the father of the baby and making charges there?

[androgy8.livejournal.com]

I just read the full article, where they actually /are/ charging the dad.

Still, it is very difficult to believe that anyone leaving a baby outside of a church was potentially trying to murder the baby. I hope the case gets thrown out before it makes it too far.

[rkt.livejournal.com]

i hope so. but i don't have that much faith.

you're so right. she needs some help, beyond incarceration, which is. not. help.

i hadn't even thought about her maybe not being old enough to be legally impregnated.

[jadedjade.livejournal.com]

that's fucked... but i think it's important we are realistic here... most people under the age of 40 years old who do not have a job making more than 65K/Year can't get an apartment on their own in NYC.

why is the system so screwed? I don't think they will be able to charge her as an adult... and who would have thunk you could just pop out a baby and walk out the hospital without it??? is there any paper work? or can you just slip out in the night?

[rkt.livejournal.com]

actually, from people i know and from talking to brokers, it depends on where you're looking and from whom you're planning to rent. it can be done -even in semi-fashionable parts of manhattan.
but nowhere and rented by no one will you get a place for someone 13 years old.

she didn't have the kid in a hospital. the same other article mentioned the umbilical cord was still attached.

[brienf.livejournal.com]

Is it possible that the article's author used "girl" in order to emphasize that the woman shouldn't be tried as an adult? Even so, the term is wildly inappropriate.

I'm going to assume that none of the adults around this young woman would have noticed that she was sexually active or pregnant, right? When I grow up, I want to help some people in situations similar to this young woman's initiate a class action lawsuit against their sex-ed-less or deficient sex-ed schools. Or against their parents. Whatever.

[rkt.livejournal.com]

you have more faith in the author than i do.

i don't know if she would have showed enough. honestly. some just don't.

but this lack of quality sex ed has GOT to GO.

[rkt.livejournal.com]

of COURSE she should omnisciently know the law. she's old enough to be having sex, she should know these things automatically. . . : /