12. Tennessee Sentenced a Woman to Six Extra Years in Jail Simply Because She Was Pregnant

Lacey Weld from Dandridge, Tennessee, was sentenced with more than 12 years in prison for her involvement in meth manufacturing; however, six of those years were tacked on simply because she was pregnant at the time. Recently the National Advocate for Pregnant Women wrote to the Department of Justice protesting the sentence of Lacey Weld. The letter states that giving someone extra time in prison because she is pregnant consists of “separate and unequal treatment of pregnant women.”The judge from Weld’s case states that she was declared extra guilty because she put her child’s life at risk. Although Ms. Weld used methamphetamine during her pregnancy, drug use is not a crime under the Tennessee law; Weld was convicted of manufacturing meth. She was not convicted for victimizing her son; therefore, those extra six years were unnecessary. Lacey’s son was born sick, which made many people angry including Weld who despised herself. She told the court “He could have died, and I just pray and thank God that my sister has him and he’s OK.” It is hard to imagine anyone who actually cares about her son’s well-being; but to break up a family, separating mother and child for an extra six years seems like the sentence has less to do with the child and more about the attitude people have towards pregnant women.

The author of this article, Amanda Marcotte, did a very good job; going straight to the point and knowing what to say at the right time. It seemed as if she knew what the reader needed to know about the subject. She did not have unnecessary information and did not elaborate in her words. The main purpose of her article was to inform and she did that successfully. Her language was informal so all readers could fully understand her article. She had great use of her quotes and evidences. And although some people might confuse her article from an informative article to a personal opion article, she does not explicitly state whether she agrees or not with the cause. The only opion the author might have put in her piece was telling the reader that they should get angry at Weld for using drugs during her pregnancy, “Weld's son was born sick and, as Gwynne writes, ‘tested positive for opioids and methamphetamine.’ That probably makes you angry, and it should, but it doesn't mean that she should be locked up for extra time.” Other than that, Marcotte did a great job with her article, not wasting time and giving the reader the perfect amount of information needed to understand the article and what she was trying to say or inform. 

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/10/13/lacey_weld_case_tennessee_woman_gets_six_extra_years_in_prison_for_being.html