Child Safety: Homicide by Child Abuse: South Carolina Upholds Conviction under “Crack Mom” Law

State v. McKnight, 576 S.E.2d 168 (S.C. 2003).

S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-85(A)(1) (Law. Co-op. 2002).

McKnight, 576 S.E.2d at 171.

Id. at 644.

Hooper v. Rockwell, 513 S.E.2d 358, 367 (S.C. 1999).

McKnight, 576 S.E.2d at 173 (“[I]n the context of homicide by abuse statutes, extreme indifference is a mental state akin to intent characterized by a deliberate act culminating in death.”).

Id. (citing Whitner v. State, 492 S.E.2d 777, 782 (S.C. 1997)).

Whitner, 492 S.E.2d at 780.

McKnight, 576 S.E.2d at 175.

Id. at 176.

Id. at 177.

Id. at 178.

Ferguson v. City of Charleston, 532 U.S. 67 (2001).

DeLouth T.B. , “Pregnant Drug Addicts as Child Abusers: A South Carolina Ruling,” Berkeley Women's Law Journal, 14 (1999): 96–103, at 101–02.

Herbert B. , “In America: Stillborn Justice,” New York Times, May 24, 2001, at A29.

DeLouth , supra note 20, at 102.

Id. at 100.