The Opioid Epidemic, Overdoses, and Homicide Law
In 2015, a young woman named Jamie Maynard gave a small amount of heroin to an acquaintance, Courtney Penix, who later overdosed and died. Maynard was not a dealer or trafficker, but an addict trying to help out another addict. As authorities investigated, Maynard found herself swept up in the prosecution’s zeal to punish everyone and anyone connected to Penix’s death, and was eventually charged with involuntary manslaughter and drug trafficking. She was sentenced to [...]