Birth Control Order Is Appealed
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FRESNO — A convicted child abuser has formally appealed a Tulare County judge’s requirement that she have a birth control implant.
Superior Court Judge Howard Broadman made implantation of the new Norplant device a condition of probation for Darlene Johnson, 27, of Tulare.
Defense attorney Charles Rothbaum contended that the judge was violating Johnson’s “fundamental right to reproduce.”
Broadman said the freedom to have children is not an absolute right. “In a proper case, it can be limited,” the judge said. “This is a proper case.”
Rothbaum’s appeal papers were received in the state’s 5th District Court of Appeal Wednesday. Clerk Kevin Swanson said oral arguments before three justices could be heard in June after the appellate court receives transcripts of court hearings before Broadman and briefs from opposing attorneys.
During a previous court hearing, the judge said pictures of the 4- and 6-year-old daughters Johnson admitted beating “clearly indicate significant bruising and scarring, probably permanently.”
Johnson, 27, is pregnant with her fifth child. Three daughters have been placed in foster homes and an 11-year-old son lives with Johnson’s mother.
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