Say No to Shackling during Labor and Delivery
Shackling of pregnant women is a “barbaric” and “medically hazardous” practice: and that’s according to the American Medical Association.
Shackling refers to the use of restraints anywhere on a pregnant prisoner’s body, from binding her hands and feet to chaining her abdomen. Pregnant prisoners’ arms and legs are usually shackled with metal handcuffs during transportation, then cuffed directly to their hospital bed by an arm and a leg in the delivery room. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Association, and the United Nations have condemned the practice, citing the serious health risks posed to mother and infant.
The challenges of shackling become more urgent in the delivery room, where it’s vital for a woman to move around early in labor to appease pain and expedite delivery. Should an emergency arise, including the need for a cesarean section, precious seconds are lost uncuffing a woman, potentially preventing a doctor from delivering necessary care, said Maureen Phipps, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Brown University.
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia all prohibit shackling during delivery, let’s make Virginia follow.
FACT:
Shackling is degrading and harmful to women’s physical and psychological health.
Shackling a woman pre-, during, or post-delivery can lead to acute stress injuries due to the
restriction of movement, harm the newborn by restricting bloodflow if her mother is unable to position herself freely, and restricts doctors’ ability to act in the case of complications or a medical emergency. Furthermore, shackling insults human dignity and is a barbaric practice.
Report from the ACLU of Virginia below please see Tiarra Fain
https://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/20120207ShacklingStories.pdf
http://www.now.org/issues/violence/AntiShacklingKit.pdf
Virginia legislators need to take action to end the barbaric practice
of shackling incarcerated women pre-, during, and post-labor and delivery.
The shackling of incarcerated women pre-, during, and post-labor and delivery risks the safety
and health of both mother and newborn by restricting bloodflow and limiting medical
practitioners’ access in case of medical emergency. Shackling can further lead to acute stress
injuries and psychological trauma and disrespects the dignity of mother and child. The
American Medical Association and American Congress of Gynecologists and Obstetricians have
already publicly denounced the practice. Shackling is not only medically unsound, it is cruel and
unusual punishment, a violation of our Constitutional rights under the Eighth Amendment — and it must be stopped.
Two-thirds of incarcerated women are sentenced for non-violent crimes, so there is little to no
security risk during labor. Furthermore, there is no recorded evidence of escape attempts made
by unshackled women during labor, and shackling can be ended at no additional cost to
taxpayers. There is no excuse to continue the practice any longer — it is inhumane. We call
upon Virginia legislators to create legislation that holds correctional staff accountable for
security-related shackling by clearly defining what constitutes restraints, labor, recovery and
“exceptional circumstances,” and which requires correctional staff file to regular reports on any
cases in which shackling was found to be necessary, as in Washington’s anti-shackling law. We
implore the legislators of this beautiful state to join ten other states in respecting human dignity,
human rights and motherhood by banning shackling for good.
The Rappahannock Regional Jail located in Stafford County, Virginia has denied using the practice of shackling inmates pre, active and post labor but employees at the local hospitals of Mary Washington confirmed that this cruel practice is in fact currently an issue for medical staff. April 2010 my own daughter 22 years old was forced to give birth in shackles to a 9 lb 10 ounce child with (the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck all while she had several asthma attacks) by the staff of this facility. The ACLU of Virginia calling her case the worst they have ever heard about. See link for report https://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/20120207ShacklingStories.pdf
Me speaking to the General Assembly in Richmond, Virginia Feb 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snRGbg0L_mM&feature=plcp
Superintendent Joe Higgs of the Rappahannock Regional Jail denying that this happens at all, all lies see for yourself!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vezgsMnqcrc&feature=context-cha
My thoughts
This is more than a mission to indemnify my own daughter and grandson, this is a mission to insure this never ever happens to another young woman and/or child during what is already a stressful and potentially dangerous situation. No Human Being living in these United States of America should have to endure this level of Torture!
Please visit http://www.change.org/petitions/say-no-to-shackling-during-labor-and-delivery to show your support and sign the petition.
LaTanya Walker
Complacency is Not an Option………….
Racial profiling in The Belly of The Beast!
Racial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement (e.g. make a traffic stop or arrest). The practice is controversial and is illegal in many jurisdictions.
Definition
The concept of racial profiling has been defined in many ways, including:
- “Any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity.” -Deborah Ramirez, Jack McDevitt, Amy Farrell for US DoJ[1]
- “Racially-biased policing occurs when law enforcement inappropriately considers race or ethnicity in deciding with whom and how to intervene in an enforcement capacity.”-Lorie Fridell, Robert Lunney, Drew Diamond and Bruce Kubu[2]
- “Using race as a key factor in deciding whether to make a traffic stop.” -General Accounting Office[3]
- “In the literature to date, there appear to be at least two clearly distinguishable definitions of the term ‘racial profiling’: a narrow definition and a broad definition… Under the narrow definition, racial profiling occurs when a police officer stops, questions, arrests, and/or searches someone solely on the basis of the person’s race or ethnicity… Under the broader definition, racial profiling occurs whenever police routinely use race as a factor that, along with an accumulation of other factors, causes an officer to react with suspicion and take action.”-Jim Cleary[4]
- “Use by law enforcement personnel of an individual’s race or ethnicity as a factor in articulating reasonable suspicion to stop, question or arrest an individual, unless race or ethnicity is part of an identifying description of a specific suspect for a specific crime.” -Office of the Arizona Attorney General[5]
Legality
At a federal level, racial profiling is challenged by both the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the right to be safe from search and seizure without a warrant (which is to be issued “upon probable cause”), and the Fourteenth Amendment which requires that all citizens be treated equally under the law.
In his February 27, 2001, address to a Joint Session of Congress, President George W. Bush declared, “Racial profiling is wrong, and we will end it in America. In so doing, we will not hinder the work of our nation’s brave police officers. They protect us every day — often at great risk. But by stopping the abuses of a few, we will add to the public confidence our police officers earn and deserve.”[6]
In June 2001, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice, awarded the Northeastern research team a grant to create the web-based Racial Profiling Data Collection Resource Center. It now maintains a website designed to be a central clearinghouse for police agencies, legislators, community leaders, social scientists, legal researchers, and journalists to access information about current data collection efforts, legislation and model policies, police-community initiatives, and methodological tools that can be used to collect and analyze racial profiling data. The website contains information on the background of data collection, jurisdictions currently collecting data, community groups, legislation that is pending and enacted in states across the country, and has information on planning and implementing data collection procedures, training officers in to implement these systems, and analyzing and reporting the data and results.[7]
In June 2003, the Department of Justice issued its Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies forbidding racial profiling by federal law enforcement officials.[8]
Several U.S. states now have reporting requirements for incidents of racial profiling. Texas, for example requires all agencies to provide annual reports to its Law Enforcement Commission. The requirement began on September 1, 2001, when the State of Texas passed a law to require all law enforcement agencies in the State to begin collecting certain data in connection to traffic or pedestrian stops beginning on January 1, 2002. Based on that data, the law mandated law enforcement agencies to submit a report to the law enforcement agencies’ governing body beginning March 1, 2003 and each year thereafter no later than March 1. The law is found in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure beginning with Article 2.131.[9] Additionally, on January 1, 2011, all law enforcement agencies began submitting annual reports to the Texas State Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education Commission. The submitted reports can be accessed on the Commission’s website for public review.[10]
To read more and for reference material please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_profiling
Imagine stumbling upon documentation that has been made public which clearly lays out a systematic “cleansing” if you will of certain races in one of the most Corrupt, Unjust Jurisdictions in the State of Virginia. I have done just that. I am going to reserve my opinion and allow you to come to your own conclusion. Please note that this is live on the website of the Community Profile for Stafford County, Virginia in black and white, no pun intended!
According to the 2010 Census the break down in Race is as follows Total Population 128,961
Whites 87,434 Blacks 21,259 Hispanic or Latino 11,875 Other Races or Mixed race 8393 Refer to page 5
Projected Demographic Growth for 2020 total 176,710 combined and 2030 total 218,772 combined
2020 Projection Whites 130,670 Blacks 27,798 Hispanic or Latino 11,538 Other Races or Mixed Races 6,716
2030 Projection Whites 156,792 Blacks 35,140 Hispanic or Latino 16,809 Other Races or Mixed Races 10,031
Other Races/Mixed Races 2010 8,393 2020 6,704 (decrease of 1,689) 2030 10,031 Do the Math
I am simply stating the numbers which are available online see link below;
http://virginialmi.com/report_center/community_profiles/5104000179.pdf
This information is what is online and what potential business owners, builders, organizations see when they look at the longterm projection of the area. Is it just me or does this appear to be either out of touch with reality or is this someone’s sinister intended reality? Does this lead one to believe that perhaps only the White Race will find Stafford County appealling over the next 18 years and thus All others will move away or simply choose not to relocate to this County? Are there things being said, done, or acted upon to insure that these projections remain on target? You have to ask yourself the question .Who predicted this unbalance and future cleanse?
It is 2012 and time to open up the lines of communication to The Realities Of….
I look forward to your responses and dialogue on this and many other subjects that matter!
I will leave you with this qoute from Mahatma Gandhi ” You must be the change you wish to see in the world “
LaTanya R. Walker
twitter/justiceseeker11
Disclaimer from Me!
“I am not providing legal advice.”
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The Blog represents my own uncensored thoughts and no one else’s!
This Blog is My Opinion and mine only, I am not an Attorney and cannot assist with legal advice. I am a Citizen of the United States, A Resident of Virginia, A Tax Payer, A Community Activist and a Cheerleader for Justice!
If at anytime my blog offends you too bad, find another blog to follow…For my supporters Thank You and I will continue to do my part as long as there is a need…..
LaTanya R. Walker
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The Devil's Courthouse 