Free webinar offered by NACDL. Open to non-NACDL members.
This webinar examines new findings from The Marshall Project revealing how routine drug testing at childbirth has funneled tens of thousands of families into law enforcement systems across the country. Drawing on multi-state data and real case examples, the session explores how false positives, prescribed medications, and legally purchased substances have triggered police referrals—even when child welfare agencies later find no abuse or neglect.
Panelists will unpack how hospital protocols and mandatory reporting transform medical care into criminal investigation, leading to arrests, family separation, and prosecutions built on unreliable evidence. The discussion will also place these practices in the post-Dobbs context of expanding pregnancy surveillance and criminalization, and outline key defense considerations for challenging drug test evidence and law-enforcement involvement in childbirth settings.
LOCATION: Zoom
DATE: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
COST: FREE (registration is required)
LOCATION: Zoom link will be sent after registration
Panelists:
Shoshana Walter, Staff Writer at The Marshall Project
Jill Castellano, Data Reporter at the Marshall Project