The Ongoing Attempt to Justify Murder
Cory at the Madville Times is excited because he thinks he's finally found a way to justify abortion: a "fetus" (a human fetus?) and an adult are "different," and that people disagree on criminal penalties.
How is a human "fetus" different than a human "adult?" Perhaps it's because they're different in things like size, development, their environment and their level of dependency.
The human fetus is a lot smaller than the human adult. Oh, but toddlers are smaller than human adults, too. Does that mean they aren't human? Should we allow toddlers to be killed for convenience?
Well, the human fetus isn't nearly as fully developed as the human adult. Oh, but 5-year-old girls aren't capable of reproduction as adult females. Five-year-old-boys also aren't capable of reproduction like adult males, either. They're also a lot smaller, don't have the same set of teeth that adults have, and so on. Does that mean these 5-year-olds aren't human? Do they lack value because of their lack of development? Should we allow 5-year-olds lacking in development to be killed?
Okay, but the human fetus is inside the womb, while human adults are outside the womb. What, you say location doesn't change the worth and dignity of a human being? You mean I'm worth just as much on this side of the street as that side of the street? I have the same human dignity in Asia as I do in South America? You mean I'm just as human in orbit or walking on the moon as I am here on earth? You mean a child has the same human value when they're being carried on daddy's back as they do when they're walking on their own, or the baby has just as much value being held in someone's arms as they do when they're an adult holding another baby?
Anthrax and unsolved suspicious deaths
The FBI has given a thorough accounting of its investigation into the anthrax attacks of 2001. It has not explained how it wrongfully accused one scientist and hounded him, and finally had to pay him $4 million for the damages it did to him. Once the agency thought it found the real perpetrator, Dr. Bruce Ivins, who committed suicide when the FBI was closing in on him the agency provided a comprehensive account which covered the essentials of the crime--means, motive, opportunity.
The FBI has briefed victims and family members of victims of the anthrax attack. It also released scientists from secrecy to give the press an account of the sicence created and applied to solve the case.
Sheriff’s Office sued over 2004 prisoner death
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office is the target of a wrongful-death suit concerning the July 2004 death of Marvis Gail Davidson in the Buncombe County Detention Facility. Bobby Medford, since convicted on federal corruption charges, was sheriff then.
April Nicole Welch, Davidson’s daughter and the administrator of her estate, filed the lawsuit Aug. 8. It alleges that after Davidson’s arrest, she was repeatedly denied medical care for conditions related to diabetes, which jail officials knew she had because it was noted in her records during a previous incarceration.
“As her condition deteriorated and the associated pain grew to intolerable levels—particularly in the days immediately preceding her death—Ms. Davidson and fellow inmates of her cell repeatedly beseeched detention officers monitoring Ms. Davidson,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that “detention officers ignored Ms. Davidson’s continuous cries for help even as she lay writhing and screaming on the floor in pain.” The lawsuit accuses the Sheriff’s Office of manifesting “a heedless indifference to, or reckless disregard of, Ms. Davidson’s safety and well-being.”
The autopsy report revealed that Davidson died of a condition known as “dead gut,” which is sometimes related to diabetes. In 2005, a jail employee filed complaints about Davidson’s treatment.
The lawsuit seeks a trial by jury and at least $30,000 in damages, plus attorney and court costs. It names current Sheriff Van Duncan—in his official capacity only—and the Sheriff’s Office. It also targets the South Dakota-based Western Surety Co., which insures both the Sheriff’s Office and the jail.
Lt. Ross Dillingham, the sheriff’s public-affairs officer, said he had no comment on how his office would respond to the lawsuit, emphasizing that the incident took place under the previous administration. “Sheriff Duncan in no way had any affiliation with the office then, or any control over what happened in the jail in 2004,” Dillingham told Xpress.
Davidson’s death was not the only controversy related to prisoner treatment during Medford’s tenure—or the only inmate death.
Xpress has previously reported on the September 2001 arrest of Joey Max Rogers for driving his lawnmower while drunk. After being taken into custody and placed in a locked room, he was found a half-hour later with his neck broken (see “High Pressure Zone,” May 18, 2005 Xpress).