Bill To Stop The Shackling Of Pregnant Inmates Introduced By D.C. Lawmaker

[Tx4obama]

Bill To Stop The Shackling Of Pregnant Inmates Introduced By D.C. Lawmaker

Pregnant inmates will no longer be shackled in D.C. jails, if a bill introduced this week is passed.

"This is one of those issues that's a no brainer," said D.C. lawmaker David Grosso (I-At Large), who introduced the anti-shackling bill on Tuesday, along with another bill that would legalize the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana. "The reality is that when a woman is in childbirth, labor, or in recovery from such a situation the chance of her fleeing, or running away, or hurting somebody is pretty minimal."

A majority of U.S. jurisdictions allow for the restraint of pregnant prisoners. Virginia banned the practice last year through regulations after a bill to ban shackling was defeated; a bill in Maryland that would have in most cases restricted shackling during a prisoner's second and third trimesters also did not pass.

Most states -- all but 18, according to the ACLU -- still allow pregnant prisoners, and those giving birth, to be shackled, even though doing so is dangerous to the mother and the baby, according to a briefing paper put out by the group's Reproductive Freedom Project.

-snip-

Full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/dc-pregnant-inmates-shackled_n_3950049.html

[gopiscrap]

1. good! we have no room to make judgements about human rights violations

we have enough of them right here in this country.