An article today discusses a new plan in Davidson County, Tennessee, that will end the shackling of
inmates who are pregnant and in labor.
Sheriff Daron Hall announced the changes this week, calling them radical and dramatic. He said pregnant inmates would be restrained during trips to the hospital or court if there were credible information they might try to escape or if they presented a danger to themselves or others.
The change comes nearly two months after Juana Villegas, an illegal immigrant who was nine months pregnant, was arrested on careless driving charges and detained at the Davidson County jail. Villegas, from Mexico, said she was handcuffed and shackled during transport to the hospital and had one leg shackled to the bed for a portion of her labor.
The sheriff confirmed her treatment was in line with the old policy because her status made her a medium-security inmate; those inmates are restrained regardless of gender or pregnancy.
Hall is president-elect of the American Correctional Association,
a Virginia-based trade group with about 19,000 members.
The association recommends that jailing agencies consider
the "age, gender, health and mental health
status" of inmates in restraining them, and use
the least restrictive and harmful method.
At least 38 states have policies allowing for some restraint at various stages of pregnancy or delivery.
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1 comment:
Just because an inmate is pregnant that does not mean she is automatically a gentle soul. When we hear "restrained pregnant inmates" we think of them handcuffed or shackeled to a steel table. That is simply not the case. I am sure if a pregnant inmate needed to be restrained it would be done in a humane manner.
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