Amanda Aguilar: Oklahoma: The Marshall Project asks the question of the day: "Why does Oklahoma want to prosecute pregnant mothers?…"An Oklahoma prosecutor has appealed a trial judge’s ruling dismissing a felony child neglect charge against Amanda Aguilar, a woman who used marijuana to help with severe morning sickness during her pregnancy. Medical marijuana is legal in the state and she had a doctor-approved license to use it. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals will likely hear oral argument in her case later this year."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  In recent years, I have taken on the  theme of criminalizing reproduction - a natural theme for a Blog concerned with  flawed science in its myriad forms  - as I am utterly opposed to the current movement in the United States (and some other countries) emboldened by the overturning of Roe Versus Wade,  towards imprisoning women and their physicians and others who help them secure a safe abortion,  on the basis of sham science (or any other basis). I can’t remember the source, but agree  totally with the sentiment that control over their reproductive lives is far too important to women in America - or anywhere else -  so they can  participate  equally in the economic and social life of their nations without fear for  loss their freedom at the hands of political opportunists and fanatics. (Far too many of those those around these days.) 

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

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STORY: Oklahoma's war on pregnant women," published by The Marshall Project, on February 14, 2024.

GIST: An Oklahoma prosecutor has appealed a trial judge’s ruling dismissing a felony child neglect charge against Amanda Aguilar, a woman who used marijuana to help with severe morning sickness during her pregnancy. Medical marijuana is legal in the state and she had a doctor-approved license to use it. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals will likely hear oral argument in her case later this year. Another woman faces trial for her own use of medical marijuana after the state’s supreme court refused to dismiss her case. In collaboration with The Frontier, Brianna Bailey and Kay NewsCow’s Sharon Rowen continue our coverage. THE MARSHALL PROJECT TMP Context: Our 2022 story on Aguilar’s plight. THE MARSHALL PROJECT

The entire story can be read at:

 https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/oklahoma+marijuana/FMfcgzGxRfFwNCvglfJKdbCJXZBcbTTm

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resurce. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:

David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801

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