A Victory for Pregnant Prisoners

by Matt Kelley · 2009-10-06 15:52:00 UTC
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On Friday, the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a resounding victory for pregnant prisoners and for human rights.

The court ruled that an Shawanna Nelson, an Arkansas prisoner, has the right to sue prison guards and officials for violating her constitutional rights by shackling her to the bed during the final stages of labor.

Both of Harris’ legs were shackled during labor, and the majority found that she has the right to sue the state. The guards should have known that the medical risks of shackling were “obvious,” Chief Judge Diana Murphy wrote. Harris was in prison for credit card and check fraud.

Lynn Paltrow, the Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, wrote in an email to supporters:

That this decision is “historic” and that five of the 11 circuit court judges dissented, makes clear both how far we have come and how far we still have to go to ensure the civil and human rights of all pregnant women (the dissent in Friday’s opinion saw no “clearly established” constitutional violations in shackling Ms. Nelson during labor.)

I wrote on this issue last month when New York became the sixth state in the country to outlaw the shackling of pregnant prisoners. The Crime Report posted a thorough review of the spotty regulations on this issue across the other 44 states -- take a look here at your state’s policy.

The court's full decision is here.

Photo by hugrakka.

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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