TESTED | Part 3: Dismissed, But Not Undone

In South Carolina, these charges almost always get dismissed. People assume that means no harm done. It doesn't. Here's what the process costs a new mother, even when she wins.

I'm not going to stop talking about this. Mothers getting arrested because they tested positive for THC when they gave birth. If you're just finding me, there are more videos on my profile on why this is such a big problem.

Here's the pushback. Every case I've handled has ended in a dismissal. And even when it isn't my client, a lot of these end in pretrial intervention or probation. Nobody's going to prison. So people ask me, what's the problem?

Let me tell you exactly what the problem is.

The dismissal is the finish line. It is not the story. The story is everything that happens between the arrest and that dismissal, and that part doesn't get undone.

Start here. This is a felony charge. It doesn't resolve in a week. It drags on for months, sometimes years. And the whole time it's pending, that mother is living with a felony hanging over her. Every background check. Every job application. Every box that asks if she's ever been charged. It follows her while she waits.

Then there's the money. South Carolina is a cash bond state. To get out of jail, she has to post money, and in these cases, that's money she doesn't get back. She paid to walk out of a jail she never should have been sitting in.

When a mother is arrested, she is taken away from her newborn. Not for an hour. For however long it takes. And if she's breastfeeding, that separation can do permanent damage to the whole relationship. I'm not speaking in theory. One of my clients was arrested on one of these charges, spent 24 hours in jail, and was never able to breastfeed her baby again. One day in a cell took something from her and her child that she does not get back.

And it keeps going. While the case is pending, she has to show up to court, over and over. You know what isn't allowed in a courtroom? Babies. So on top of everything else, she's lining up childcare, missing work, and leaving her infant behind every single time the court says come.

So yes. Every case I have handled ended in a dismissal and the expungement of that mother's record. On paper, it reads like it never happened. But the money is gone. The time is gone. None of that comes back with a signed order. 

And here's the part almost nobody knows. Even after a charge is expunged, it can still surface in some background check databases. The court says erased. The internet doesn't always agree.

That's what people miss when they hear “dismissed.” They think it means no harm done. It’s often the opposite. The harm already happened, in all the places a court order can't reach. 

That's exactly why I fight these at the front end, and why I'm not going to stop talking about it. The test needs to change. The law needs to change. Until they do, I'll keep saying it, repeatedly and loudly.

For now, this is what I want you to hold onto. If this happened to you, or to someone you love, you did nothing wrong by trying to get through a pregnancy. And what it cost you matters. It's worth a conversation.

Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Common Questions

Is South Carolina a cash bond state?

Yes. In South Carolina, release before trial often requires posting a cash bond. Depending on how the bond is posted, some or all of the cost of getting out, such as a bondsman's fee, is not returned, even if the charge is later dismissed.

Does a dismissed charge stay on your record in South Carolina?

It can. A dismissal ends the case, but the arrest and charge may remain on the record until they are formally expunged. In South Carolina, expungement is often a separate step, not automatic.

Do expunged charges still show up on a background check?

Sometimes. Expungement is meant to clear a charge from the public record, but an expunged charge can still appear in private background check databases that copied the record before it was cleared. Fixing that can take additional effort.