Blog of Rights
Vania
Leveille
10/20/2008

Bureau of Prisons Revises Policy on Shackling of Pregnant Inmates

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 12:54pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

The ACLU welcomes the Bureau of Prisons' recent policy change barring the shackling of pregnant inmates in federal prisons in all but the most extreme circumstances.

This new policy represents a sea change in the United States, where the shackling of pregnant women during transport, labor, and even delivery has long been routine in jails and prisons. Currently, only California, Illinois, and Vermont have enacted state laws restricting the practice of shackling pregnant women. By contrast, international human rights bodies have repeatedly expressed concern about policies that permit shackling of pregnant women.

Such reform is long overdue: As the stories from Amnesty International's 1999 report, "Not Part of My Sentence": Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" make clear, shackling is not only dangerous and inhumane, but also poses serious and unnecessary risks to the wellbeing of the mother as well as her child. Warnice Robinson, who was imprisoned for shoplifting, explains,

"Because I was shackled to the bed, they couldn't remove the lower part of the bed for the delivery, and they couldn't put my feet in the stirrups. My feet were still shackled together, and I couldn't get my legs apart. The doctor called for the officer, but the officer had gone down the hall. No one else could unlock the shackles, and my baby was coming but I couldn't open my legs."
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08/25/2008

Senator Durbin Stands Up for Domestic Workers

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 12:06pm

On August 8, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent an indicting letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to implement promptly the recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) after its investigation into the abuse and exploitation of domestic workers, predominantly women, by foreign diplomats. The GAO report (PDF), released in late July, documents the State Department's failure to investigate and address this widespread and longstanding problem.

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01/23/2007

A Different Buzz

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 10:01am


The World We Want
There's certainly a different buzz in Washington -- both in the halls of Congress and in the reproductive rights community. It's hard not to be excited when you can point to a true blue pro-choice Speaker of the House, a Senate Majority Leader who cares about family planning, and any number of pro-choice committee chairs in both the House and Senate. These changes mean that we have the opportunity to make a real difference in women's reproductive lives. And, even better, we can now control the movement of the many extreme, anti-choice bills that drove us mad these past years. Elections matter! Voting matters!

Of course, it's not easy sailing from here on out. The anti-choice folks are still going to do what they can to impose their agenda and control women's reproductive lives. And expanding abortion rights isn't really high on the congressional agenda.

But, on this the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, it's still a happier, brighter day for women!

To learn more about what's on the horizon for the new Congress check out the 2007 Federal Legislative update.

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