But what if her addiction killed someone, how would that not warrant jail?
Addiction is not something you can control. In a way she was sick and there is not very much she could have done. Sure, “don’t take drugs while pregnant” or “don’t get pregnant while being an addict” sound like obvious things, but drugs can cloud your judgement.
And that is before you even think about what constitutes as a “someone”. I don’t even want to start the discussion on it, but there IS the question of when a fetus counts as another life/person.
So then people that are addicted should not be punished for crimes they commit related to their addiction?
They should be rehabilitated in an institution that is set up to help them beat the addiction and re-join society.
If necessary, they should be removed from society and locked up, if they pose a danger to others.
Putting them in a typical American prison that is designed to make their life as miserable as possible while extracting free labor helps neither them, nor the victims, nor society.
