From my morning news source, I come across a very interesting article that made me consider our own justice system. Some will say that it is to strict while others debate that it is to lenient. However, that is a debate that we can engage in at a later time.
The article I was reading was a Reuters News Service story that was released on 10/12/06 at 8:19 am (ET). The headline read, "Death-Row Prisoner Gets Pregnant In Solitary"
From the article, evidently a death row inmate held in solitary confinement for almost a year is pregnant and seeking a pardon to give birth to her baby. This particular woman is 39 years old and it has been confirmed that she was 11 weeks pregnant in September. The woman is a citizen of Vietnam and has been convicted of trafficking heroin. Under their laws, trafficking more than 600 grams of heroin is punishable by death or life imprisonment. Ms. Oanh is facing a firing squad this year after losing her appeal against the death sentence she received last year for possession of a billion dong (no snickering) worth of heroin. One billion dong (no snickering) is equivalent to $63,000 in American currency. Their were no visits from her husband, as he is serving a jail sentence at another prison in another province. The one line in the article that caught my attention is as follows: "The report said it was the first time that a death row prisoner had become pregnant in Vietnam and that police were investigating how it had happened." I think that I can even solve that case, you see when you have a woman and you have a man - well you know the rest of the story. You be the judge!