In 2006, Amnesty International released a shocking report: prisons in the United States routinely shackle people during pregnancy and childbirth. Since that time, growing national efforts to eradicate this barbaric practice have emerged.
We joined this fight because shackling pregnant people violates basic human rights. It also endangers parents and their pregnancies — professional associations like the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists and the American Public Health Association oppose the use of restraints on laboring and postpartum people. And shackling people under these circumstances is obviously unnecessary, degrading, and inhumane.
Casandra’s Story
Like the vast majority of incarcerated women, Casandra Brawley was in prison for a non-violent offense. She was four months pregnant when she began serving her sentence. While in labor she was shackled by a metal chain around her belly during transportation to the hospital, then shackled by a leg iron to a hospital bed throughout several hours of labor. Her restraints were removed only when a physician demanded she be freed while he performed an emergency caesarian section to deliver Ms. Brawley’s baby. Corrections officers replaced the shackles immediately after her baby was born, even though Ms. Brawley had just had surgery and was guarded 24 hours per day.
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Legal Voice, with Seattle law firm Peterson Young Putra, filed a lawsuit on Casandra’s behalf against the Washington State
Department of Corrections (DOC) in June of 2009. Casandra’s shocking mistreatment occurred despite the DOC’s own policy
against shackling incarcerated women during labor and delivery. As Casandra said, “I had committed a crime and made mistakes in my life, but I am still a human being. I was treated like a caged animal. No other woman should have to experience what I went through.”
On May 3, 2010, the federal district court agreed that shackling laboring women violates the Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The very next day, the Department of Corrections agreed to pay Casandra $125,000 to settle her lawsuit.
Not only is this a victory for Casandra, it’s also good news for future anti-shackling efforts. The federal district court’s ruling that shackling laboring women is unconstitutional will bolster similar cases nationwide. It also upholds the principles underlying Washington’s new legislation banning the kind of suffering Casandra endured.
A New Law in Washington
The barbaric practice of restraining laboring incarcerated women is not isolated to Casandra’s story. Jails and prisons throughout Washington have shackled pregnant women late in pregnancy, and in labor, using belly chains, leg irons, and handcuffs, despite the medical risks this poses to the woman and her pregnancy. Indeed, the problem exists throughout the nation: just last year, New York, New Mexico, and Texas passed laws limiting the practice.
In spring 2010, Legal Voice was instrumental in helping pass a new law in Washington State to limit the use of shackles and restraints on pregnant and laboring women.
Kimberly Mays, a mom, community activist and former inmate, told her story to a legislative committee considering the legislation:
“Before being transported by ambulance, I was shackled – both hands and feet. I was pretty scared, even though this was not my first time giving birth to a child. I was shackled to the ambulance bed all the way to [the hospital] in excruciating pain… When I got to the labor room, I thought some reprieve from the shackles would occur. On the contrary, only the leg shackles were removed so I could be examined and one wrist was shackled to the bed… Instead of a mother who was about to give birth, I lost all sense of dignity and self-respect.”
Senator Karen Fraser and Representative Jeannie Darneille championed the bill. In a hearing on the issue, Sen. Fraser said, “I think the main thing to remember is that when a woman is in prison she’s sentenced to time, not to physical harm.”
On March 28th, 2010, Governor Chris Gregoire signed the bill into law. The new law restricts the practice of shackling incarcerated women in all correctional institutions in Washington State, including state prisons, city and county jails, and juvenile detention centers. It prohibits the use of restraints during labor and delivery and restricts the use of shackles during the third trimester and during postpartum recovery. It also bans the use of waist chains and leg irons at any point in pregnancy.
