Action | Amend Minimum Standards for Jails and Lockups to add requirements on restraint of pregnant offenders |
Stage | NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ended on 2/29/2012 |
Dear Sir or Madam,
Shackling a pregnant woman is barbaric. As the mother of six children I found labor to be long, painful and difficult. Of course, the congressmen who are invoking this brutal practice may not be aware of that.
There was apparently at least one imprisoned woman who was returned to prison only an hour after childbirth. She hemorraged afterward.
Apparently Del. Ben Cline thought this was her just desserts. He asked if the woman understood the consequences of her criminal actions. Bleeding and possible death? What about the woman's innocent child? Did the child deserve these consequences also?
This practice is intolerable to any decent person living in a civilized society. Del. Cline should be recalled by his unfortunate constituents.
Karen Hogan
Reston, VA