|
Practical Moral Philosophy for Lawyers Good Mothers Marilyn Anderson has just come to you for assistance. "They've taken away my child," she cries. "I have a right to her, don't I? I am a good mother and take care of her well. I have a job and yet the welfare department has put my baby in a foster home." You are moved by Anderson's sincerity and shocked that the Department of Children and Family Services would remove the child from the home. You agree to take the case. In the course of your investigation, however, you discover that Rebecca, Mrs. Anderson's child, was removed based on a showing of both neglect and abuse. Social workers at the child's school became suspicious when the little girl appeared bruised and malnourished after a week's absence from school. The Department and Child Services report revealed that Anderson had left the child alone in her apartment for a week while she was away on vacation with an unidentified companion. The child, age seven, subsisted on crackers, water, and peanut butter during this period. When the mother returned, intoxicated, and the child came to embrace her, she and her companion whipped the child and sent her to bed. These facts are well documented by neighbors in the apartment building where Marilyn Anderson and Rebecca live. What do you do now?
|
