US Elections

This is an interesting public policy challenge. It is not up there with major economic policy, or the development of a national health scheme, or the restructuring of manufacturing, or making America greener. Why is it even on the political agenda? For us to better understand the United States and its structure of law and politics, understanding this phenomenon can be most illuminating.

There can be no doubt that the practice is inhumane in the extreme. Women's groups have criticised the practice, and nobody seems to disagree with its barbarity. Apparently two states have legislation prohibiting the practice, Illinois which passed its legislation in 2000, and California which in 2006 prohibited shackling prisoners by the wrists or ankles during labor, delivery and recovery. In May 2009 New York legislators passed a bill to restrict restraints during labor and post delivery, but the Governor had yet to sign the bill into law, hence the rally on July 9.

It would never have occurred to me that there would be a need for legislation to either allow or prohibit such a practice. But public policy works in strange ways.

There is obviously a strong belief that convicted prisoners will do anything to escape - even if they are moments from giving birth. Second there is no discrimination - most women who are incarcerated have substance abuse convictions, and the next category is fraud - mostly passing bad checks. Third, when asked by midwives and other professionals not to use or to remove shackles, prison guards say they are merely following procedures.

After a horrific birthing experience one woman sued the Arkansas Department of Correction, charging that her treatment violated the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment. After winning her case at district court, her charges were dismissed on appeal by a judicial panel that said prison officials "couldn't have known the shackling was unconstitutional".

There is a research assignment for a graduate student here. Why does it happen; why do most states have written policies on shackling; why does it persist when everybody agrees that it is barbaric; why, when there is evidence that this cannot be good practice from a health point of view does it continue; and why will enormous numbers of legislative hours be spent on debating and hopefully fixing something as bizarre as this?

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