Shackling Female Inmates During Labor

This grossly torturous practice is finally being condemned:

I’m not sure if this has been posted here yet, but its been all over the web recently. Earlier this month, in a 6-5 decision, an en banc 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned last year’s decision by a three judge panel for the Circuit and held that constitutional protections against shackling pregnant women during labor had been clearly established by decisions of the Supreme Court and the lower courts. The full decision is available HERE.

The Americn Civil Liberties Union, which represented the prisoner who brought the complaint, recently issued a Press Release, described the facts of the case as follows:

[Shawanna] Nelson was a 29-year-old non-violent offender who was six months pregnant with her second child when she was incarcerated by the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADOC) in June 2003. Three months later, after going into labor, she was taken to a local hospital where correctional officers shackled her legs to opposite sides of the bed. Nelson remained shackled to the bed for several hours of labor until she was finally taken to the delivery room.

The shackles caused Nelson cramps and intense pain, as she could not adjust her position during contractions. She was unshackled during delivery, but was immediately re-shackled after the birth of her son. After childbirth, the use of shackles caused her to soil the sheets of her bed because she could not be unshackled quickly enough to get to a bathroom.

8th Circuit Court of Appeals Rejoins Humanity and Condemns Shackling Of Pregnant Prisoners In Labor | Innocence Project of Florida

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