Sheriff, Washoe County, Nevada v. Encoe
110 New. 1317, 885 P. 2d 596 (1994)
After a newborn child tested positive for amphetamines and
methamphetamines, the state filed a criminal complaint against the mother,
charging her with child endangerment. The Nevada Supreme Court held that
the state's law forbidding child endangerment did not apply to the
ingestion by a pregnant mother of illegal substances that are transmitted
to the fetus through the umbilical cord.
The court noted that in 1991 the Nevada legislature had rejected a
proposed bill that would have encouraged prosecution of women whose
children were born with FAS. The rejected bill read in part as follows:
"If the baby is suffering from congenital drug addiction or the
fetal alcohol syndrome, the local health officer of the county or city
within which the baby or the mother of the baby resides shall report the
condition to the district attorney for that county for evaluation of the
appropriateness of invoking protective services and custody pursuant to
chapter 432B of the N[evada] R[evised] S[statutes] and of prosecuting the
mother for child abuse or neglect.
The bill was opposed, inter alia, by the Chief of the state Bureau of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse and by the president of the Nevada Eagle
For[u?]m.