WA bill seeks to limit shackling pregnant inmates

On the day she gave birth, Kimberly Hays was shackled to a bed with a nurse's hand over her mouth to muffle her screams of pain, the former inmate told state lawmakers Tuesday.

"It's like an animal giving birth before its masters," said Hays, describing a scene in which a male guard stood over her and the nurse told her to "shut up" while in labor.

Hays, who was serving time at the Washington Corrections Center for Women on drug charges, testified Tuesday before the state Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee. The panel is considering a measure that would restrict the use of restraints, including handcuffs and leg shackles, on pregnant inmates.

The proposal would ban the use of all shackles on female inmates in the third trimester of pregnancy and are being transported to medical care, court proceedings or are in labor. It would also restrict use of restraints, which include handcuffs, on women in the first or second trimester.

The measure was proposed after a former inmate sued the state last year, saying her constitutional rights were violated when she was shackled while in labor.

"It is important to be careful about how women are treated in the later stages of pregnancy and during the birth process," said bill sponsor Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Olympia.

Six states - New York, Texas, Illinois, California, Vermont and New Mexico - have approved similar restrictions.

Current state Department of Corrections policy limits the use of restraints on pregnant women and also provides for guards to walk with them and ensure that they do not trip while wearing shackles, said Douglas Cole, the superintendent of the Washington Corrections Center for Women near Gig Harbor.

He told the committee that in 2009, 33 women were taken to the hospital to give birth. Of those, five wore restraints.

"We feel the department has a proactive policy currently that assists us in managing pregnant offenders," he said.

Joanna Arlow, the policy director of Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, said her group could not support the bill because it does not allow for any restraints in the third trimester, a concern shared by the state Department of Corrections.

The pending lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections was filed by former inmate Casandra Brawley. In court documents, Brawley said she was restrained by a metal chain around her stomach while being taken to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Tacoma and was shackled to a hospital bed during several hours of labor.

The restraints were removed after a physician insisted on performing an emergency cesarean section but they were reattached after the procedure.

"This is one issue affecting civil rights and one affecting human rights," Sara Ainsworth, the attorney in the case, told the Senate committee.

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The bill is Senate Bill 6500.

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On the Net:

Washington state Legislature, http://www.leg.wa.gov