The prospect of enacting an Unborn Victims of Violence Act in North Carolina
Brobst, Jennifer A.
The prospect of enacting an Unborn Victims of Violence Act in North Carolina Brobst, Jennifer A. - Durham, NC North Carolina Central University. School of Law 2006 - 45 p. ; 26 cm.
North Carolina Central Law Journal 28(2) Spring 2006 : 127-171
In 2005, a state bill mirroring the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as Laci and Conner's Law, failed passage in the North Carolina legislature. If a similar bill passes in the future, North Carolina courts will face many decisions of statutory interpretation and likely force the hand of the state legislature to determine the very meaning of a human being under the law. In failing to pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act in 2005, North Carolina very narrowly avoided the need for clarification of fetal rights in the criminal justice system. Yet, North Carolina is particularly ripe for judicial and legislative attention to the issue. North Carolina currently lacks statutory definitions of a human being and a fetus for criminal application. In addition, since the 1989 North Carolina Supreme Court decision in State v. Beale, the North Carolina appellate courts have not re-examined whether to continue to apply the common law definition of a human being as only a live birth for the purpose of homicide statutes. This places North Carolina in a minority of jurisdictions that have not followed the national trend to expand the definition of a human being in homicide statutes to a being alive from the age of conception. A careful consideration of the diverse rationales and potential impact of fetal homicide laws and fetal and women's rights in general should be addressed before the North Carolina legislature again considers enacting fetal homicide legislation.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT
xxu
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
HOMICIDE
HUMAN RIGHTS
LEGISLATION
PREGNANCY
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
WOMEN
LAW
UNITED STATES
342.085 UNB
The prospect of enacting an Unborn Victims of Violence Act in North Carolina Brobst, Jennifer A. - Durham, NC North Carolina Central University. School of Law 2006 - 45 p. ; 26 cm.
North Carolina Central Law Journal 28(2) Spring 2006 : 127-171
In 2005, a state bill mirroring the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as Laci and Conner's Law, failed passage in the North Carolina legislature. If a similar bill passes in the future, North Carolina courts will face many decisions of statutory interpretation and likely force the hand of the state legislature to determine the very meaning of a human being under the law. In failing to pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act in 2005, North Carolina very narrowly avoided the need for clarification of fetal rights in the criminal justice system. Yet, North Carolina is particularly ripe for judicial and legislative attention to the issue. North Carolina currently lacks statutory definitions of a human being and a fetus for criminal application. In addition, since the 1989 North Carolina Supreme Court decision in State v. Beale, the North Carolina appellate courts have not re-examined whether to continue to apply the common law definition of a human being as only a live birth for the purpose of homicide statutes. This places North Carolina in a minority of jurisdictions that have not followed the national trend to expand the definition of a human being in homicide statutes to a being alive from the age of conception. A careful consideration of the diverse rationales and potential impact of fetal homicide laws and fetal and women's rights in general should be addressed before the North Carolina legislature again considers enacting fetal homicide legislation.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT
xxu
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
HOMICIDE
HUMAN RIGHTS
LEGISLATION
PREGNANCY
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
WOMEN
LAW
UNITED STATES
342.085 UNB