8th Circuit Court of Appeals holds shackling woman during labor unconstitutional
Sat, 10/24/2009 - 7:08pm | 
gail
On October 2, 2009 the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found that shackling a woman to her hospital bed during labor is cruel and unusual punishment, and unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. CLAIM was among 34 advocacy groups nationwide that submitted an amicus brief in the case. You can read the en banc decision in the case here.
Shawanna Nelson was shackled during labor while serving a sentence for credit card fraud and bad checks in Arkansas. She had permanent hip injury, torn stomach muscles, and an umbilical hernia requiring surgery. She now cannot sleep or bear weight on her left side, cannot play with her children and cannot take part in athletics. Her doctors have advised her not to have any more children. You can see Shawanna Nelson’s YouTube interview here.
Mothers who endured labor in shackles have filed four separate suits in federal court in Chicago. Like Shawanna Nelson, the overwhelming majority of women in pretrial detention are charged with nonviolent offenses. We call on Sheriff Tom Dart to stop the illegal shackling of women in labor in Cook County.
Current Size: 100%
- More than 16,000 women go to jail annually in Cook County Jail and about 82% are mothers.
- About 80% of women detained at Cook County Jail are charged with non-violent crimes and only 1.8% of the 3,100 women admitted to Illinois prisons in 2009 were classified as a high security risk.
Because children need their mothers.
