First of all, an IQ of 70 is borderline as far as mental ability goes. It’s perfectly likely that—especially in rural places—she would’ve just been the “slow girl”. Secondly, I was speaking more generally about how communities used to have support systems in the absence of state support systems that shored up…

You’d think there would already be a system like that. At my university, there was a program where developmentally disabled students (probably around Sara’s level, who were attending school for job training) lived with non-disabled students. The non-disabled students provided some basic help in navigating the dining…

I think part of it is that even 50 years ago, most communities were pretty small and you got extensive help from your existing social structure. We don’t have that anymore, which is good in some ways but definitely a detriment to people like Sara. And since the system isn’t really set up for that kind of community…

That’s true. But there has to be some sort of solution here. If she truly is unfit to parent (which is still in question to me—it doesn’t sound like she got any help learning how to parent or time to adjust before her child was taken) what about a co-living situation? Or proving she can hire a nanny? IDK, they didn’t…

Who gives a shit? Honestly. She has a totally average and healthy body. Don’t be a dick to a teenage girl.

This doesn’t even make any sense. The “she’s already been aborted” line assumes that there’s only ONE woman who could have possibly been president. Yet how many white men candidates do we slog through every election?

Ah, thanks for the title! I do think I remember hearing it was a true story.

Yeah. If the Obamas were Republicans, people would be all over how great it was that she chose to prioritize her children over attending endless political functions.

Well, I am talking about a greater spectrum of violence than just murder (including rape, domestic violence, stalking, and harassment). Sure, it is probably true that offenders commit many crimes over their lifetimes. But again, literally every straight woman I know has a story of being harassed, stalked, or assaulted…

Actually, most studies show that rates of crime remain fairly stable among different racial populations, especially when you compare between people of similar income levels. People of color tend to be incarcerated at higher rates than white people, but this probably has more to do with higher policing in minority…

Except we know that there is an extremely high rate of sex-based violence for women. 1 in 4 women experiences sexual assault and 2 out of 3 female homicide victims were killed by a partner or family member. There is also great social pressure on women to accept and ignore threatening behavior from partners, and great…

Sure. But it’s still the old “If 1 in every 100 M&Ms were poisoned, would you eat M&Ms?” conundrum. Every woman I know has a story about a boyfriend or date who either tried to stalk them or got creepy/violent at the end of the relationship.

Heck, even today black women tend to be encouraged to get hysterectomies more often than white women are for the same medical issue.

I agree, but I also think the problem is more complex than that. Just paying for healthcare isn’t going to make people seek it if they have (often valid!) reasons to worry that doctors aren’t acting in their best interests, or if they don’t have the education to understand the basics of how medicine works and what…

I’m sure prosecutors, like humans in general, are on the whole decent people. But you yourself point out that they’re overworked and it’s common to offer plea deals just to reduce the workload. That’s...not good, when we know we have a system that gives inadequate defense to people (especially the people most in need…

I don’t think this book is aimed at toddlers. It seems more the 5-8 year old demographic, which is actually a pretty good time to begin exploring historical complexity. I vividly remember my 2nd grade teacher reading the class a book about the Civil War in which two Union soldiers (one white, one black) are captured…

There are times when a plea deal is appropriate, like when a person is definitely guilty but conviction is uncertain for whatever reason, so the prosecutor offers the deal in order to avoid court. But there’s a lot of cases where a person’s guilt is doubtful so a plea deal is used to frighten and bully them out of…

1) she’s definitely not guilty of murder

I can’t believe I willingly read that stupidity. I blame you.

Yeah, it sounds like her life has been completely shitty up until now. Hopefully she can get some help.