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"Judge jails woman until baby is born"

By Douglas A. Berman

A helpful reader pointed me to this fascinating article that bears the headline that is the title of this post.  Here are the particulars: A woman from the African nation of Cameroon could give birth in a federal prison because she is HIV-positive. U.S. District Judge John Woodcock last month sentenced Quinta Layin Tuleh, 28, to 238 days in federal prison for having fake documents. Woodcock said the sentence would ensure that Tuleh?s baby, due Aug. 29, has a good chance of being born free of the AIDS virus. Both the federal prosecutor and the defense attorney urged the judge to sentence Tuleh to 114 days, or time served, according to a transcript of the sentencing hearing. Woodcock instead ignored the federal sentencing guidelines and calculated her sentence to coincide with her due date...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 04, 2009 (boomark / email).