This story comes from the Austin American-Statesman's website and is about a Travis County judge who sentenced a woman to not have any more children as part of her probation.
The woman, Felicia Salazar, failed to provide protection or medical care for her 19-month-old daughter when the girl suffered injuries from a beating from her father, Robert Alvarado. Both parents relinquished their parental rights, and Alvarado was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Salazar was sentenced to 10 years probation, during which, the judge ordered her to not have any more children. Neither Salazar nor her lawyer objected to the sentence.
Texas law states that judges have the ability to set any terms of probation deemed reasonable, but since conditions of probation are enforced by putting the defendant in prison when they are violated, what will happen if she does conceive and bear more children? Is it constitutional to enforce these kinds of conditions? I'm sure everyone has come across some parent they think should not be allowed to have children, but is it really enforceable if it came down to it?
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