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Stories of those Affected |
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The following stories are taken from the Rebecca Project for Human Rights website:
Stephanie
Stephanie, who is legally blind, gave birth to her son, Diamond, in shackles during her incarceration in 1993. In Stephanie's own words, "I felt really confused, and kept asking the sheriff, 'Why are you shackling me? Where do you think I am going?' I was angry."
Serving time for possession and direct sale of an illegal substance, due to her drug addiction, Stephanie was in the custody of the state of California in 1992, and incarcerated at the Los Angeles County jail during her pregnancy. She received prenatal care only once every three months.
After going into labor, the police transported Stephanie to the local hospital. Stephanie was placed in shackles from the time she left the jail to deliver Diamond until her return to the jail forty-eight hours later. Specifically, the local sheriff placed both metal belly-waist and ankle shackles on Stephanie during her transport to the jail. During the deliver itself, the doctor and nurse asked the police to remove the ankle and belly-waist shackles. The sheriff removed only bell-waist shackles, "to prevent a possible escape." Stephanie, as a result, gave birth to Diamond, with her ankles shackled to the bed.
Arnita
In September 2000, the state of Ohio sentenced Arnita to sixty months at the Franlkin County Correctional Center in Columbus, Ohio for conspiracy to distribute, a nonviolent drug offense. During her incarceration, Arnita gave birth to her son, Waki. Waki was born in shackles. Due to conversations she had with other inmates, Arnita was aware that she would most likely be shackled during childbirth. However, no staff member, including medical, informed Arnita that she would be shackled during childbirth. U.S. Marshals placed shackles on Arnita when she left her cell to travel to the hospital and those shackles were not removed until she returned to the correctional facility two days later.
During Arnita's C-section, her leg was in metal shackles, chained to the bed. Arnita remebers the attending physician asking the marshal, "Do you really have to keep these shackles on?" The marshal's response, "Yes, it's procedure."
The following story is taken from the Correctional Association of New York CA Bulletin
Venita
"I went into labor at 5 in the morning, said Venita Pinckney, who was taken from Bedford Hills Correctional Factility to a hospital for her son's birth last November. "At 6 in the morning, waiting for trip officers to take me to Westchester medical, I was shackled at the ankles and wrists, with a black box on top of handcuffs, and they put waist restraints around my stomach twice. We didn't leave the facility until 8 in the morning. I didn't get to the hospital until 9. I was still in those handcuffs, restraints, shackles, and black box. Where was I going in labor? Where could I have moved to, where could I have gone while in labor?"
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