Arkansas Judge Abuses Power, Ignores Life of Unborn Child in Murder Case

Abortion, , ,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 19, 2017

On Wednesday Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright acquitted a North Little Rock man of murdering an unborn child. In 2015, Quenton King of North Little Rock allegedly shot his mistress who was eight months pregnant, killing both her and her unborn child. The judge acquitted King of murdering the unborn baby, because, he said, prosecutors failed to demonstrate the child was alive at the time.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “This is ludicrous. No one should have to prove a person was alive prior to being murdered. We know from court testimony that the woman was eight months pregnant when she was shot. Children born prematurely at eight months routinely go on to live healthy lives. Arkansas law says a person can be charged with murder for causing the death of an unborn child. Judge Wright’s decision in this case ignores Arkansas’ homicide laws, and it ignores the life of this unborn baby.”

Cox called Judge Wright’s decision abusive. “Murder trials exist in part to provide justice for the victims. Judge Wright’s decision denies justice to one of those victims. It would be one thing if a jury had reviewed the case and determined there was not enough evidence to find the defendant guilty. Rather than letting a jury decide if the child was alive, Judge Wright has made that decision for them even though there was no evidence indicating the baby was dead prior to the shooting. The Arkansas Constitution says a judge can be impeached for gross misconduct. If this is not gross misconduct, I don’t know what is.”

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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Human Dignity, Sexual Morality, and Counter-Cultural Christianity

Worldview,

Recently there have been a series of high-profile allegations and cases of sexual harassment and predation — the latest being Hollywood magnate Harvey Weinstein.

Many have pointed out these are not isolated incidents. Sexual exploitation, harassment, and assault have become far too common.

Amid this dark culture, it’s important to remember the pagan world to which the gospel was first taken nearly 2,000 years ago. Our friends at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview write,

With the exception of a few highborn women, Roman women were often treated worse than Roman cattle. Even upper-class women were little more than possessions and, when it came to sexuality, they were at their husband’s beck and call and could be disposed of at will.

Slave women, which were a full third of Rome’s female population, could expect beatings and rape. The “fortunate” ones were sold into prostitution. Unwanted girls were left to die of exposure.

Into this world came Christianity, specifically the writings of St. Paul. As [author Sarah] Ruden tells her readers, to call him an “oppressor of women” could “hardly be more wrong.” “Paul’s teachings on sexual purity and marriage were adopted as liberating in the pornographic, sexually exploitive Greco-Roman culture of the time . . .”

The biblical teachings about human dignity, morality, ethics, and sin were counter-cultural at the time. Today they appear to be once more. John Stonestreet notes that “sexually-predatory males didn’t go extinct, but until just recently—and thanks largely to Christian influence—they couldn’t rationalize their predations, either.”

Click here to read Stonestreet’s entire commentary on this subject or listen to it below.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BP2017-10-19.mp3|titles=#MeToo by John Stonestreet]

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Here Are The Number of Applications to Grow, Sell Marijuana In Each County

Marijuana

Recently some 300 businesses and individuals applied with the State of Arkansas to grow or sell so-called “medical” marijuana.

The state is still in the process of reviewing these applications — and likely will be for quite some time. Of all these applicants, five growers and 32 sellers will be approved by the state.

We sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Finance and Administration requesting information on the applications to grow or sell marijuana. Here’s a breakdown of what we have learned so far:

  • Marijuana-grower applications have been made in 41 of Arkansas’ 75 counties.
  • Marijuana-seller applications have been made in 53 of Arkansas’ 75 counties.
  • Altogether, there have been 228 applications to sell marijuana and 95 applications to grow marijuana.

The top 10 counties for marijuana applications are:

  1. Pulaski (9 growers and 26 sellers)
  2. Garland (3 growers and 22 sellers)
  3. Washington (7 growers and 17 sellers)
  4. Jefferson (13 growers and 8 sellers)
  5. Crittenden (2 growers and 15 sellers)
  6. Sebastian (3 growers and 11 sellers)
  7. Faulkner (12 sellers)
  8. Jackson (8 growers and 4 sellers)
  9. Benton (11 sellers)
  10. Craighead (1 grower and 10 sellers)

Twelve counties had no applications to grow or sell marijuana:

  1. Arkansas
  2. Ashley
  3. Calhoun
  4. Cleveland
  5. Hempstead
  6. Lafayette
  7. Lawrence
  8. Little River
  9. Logan
  10. Newton
  11. Perry
  12. Randolph

Below is a breakdown of marijuana applications by county:

County Marijuana Grower Applications Marijuana Seller Applications
Arkansas – –
Ashley – –
Baxter – 2
Benton – 11
Boone – 3
Bradley – 1
Calhoun – –
Carroll 2 5
Chicot 1 4
Clark – 2
Clay 1 1
Cleburne – 3
Cleveland – –
Columbia – 1
Conway 1 2
Craighead 1 10
Crawford 1 3
Crittenden 2 15
Cross – 1
Dallas 1 –
Desha – 2
Drew 1 –
Faulkner – 12
Franklin 1 –
Fulton – 1
Garland 3 22
Grant – 1
Greene – 1
Hempstead – –
HotSpring 1 2
Howard – 1
Independence 2 3
Izard 1 2
Jackson 8 4
Jefferson 13 8
Johnson 1 3
Lafayette – –
Lawrence – –
Lee 2 –
Lincoln 1 –
LittleRiver – –
Logan – –
Lonoke 2 3
Madison 1 –
Marion – 1
Miller 3 6
Mississippi 1 2
Monroe 2 –
Montgomery 1 1
Nevada 1 1
Newton – –
Ouachita – 1
Perry – –
Phillips 2 2
Pike – 1
Poinsett 1 –
Polk – 2
Pope 1 4
Prairie – 1
Pulaski 9 26
Randolph – –
Saline 1 5
Scott – 1
Searcy 1 –
Sebastian 3 11
Sevier 1 1
Sharp 2 3
St.Francis 4 2
Stone – 3
Union 1 2
VanBuren 2 3
Washington 7 17
White 2 –
Woodruff 3 2
Yell – 1
Total 95 228

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