CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : FRESNO : Appeal Filed in Norplant Case

Appeal documents have been filed opposing a judge’s order that a woman convicted of beating her children undergo Norplant birth control implants as a condition of probation. Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and defendant Darlene Johnson said the state should not be allowed to require birth control. In papers filed with the 5th District Court of Appeal at Fresno, the attorneys said the case should not just be sent back to Tulare Superior Court to simply have the Norplant requirement removed, the position the attorney general’s office favors. The opposing attorneys want the justices to decide larger issues. “Judicial economy will be better served by considering whether a remand is appropriate only after this court has resolved the significant statutory and constitutional issues implicated by state-coerced birth control,” attorney Margaret Crosby said.