AELE LAW LIBRARY OF CASE SUMMARIES:
Corrections Law for
Jails, Prisons and Detention Facilities
Female Prisoners
A prisoner claimed
that her constitutional rights were violated when she was shackled to a
bed while she was giving birth. A state corrections department director
was entitled to qualified immunity from liability because he was not personally
involved in the incident and had not established any policies to require
or encourage the shackling of pregnant prisoners. A corrections officer
directly involved in the shackling, however, was not entitled to qualified
immunity, given that she stated that the prisoner, who was a non-violent
offender, had not done or said anything to indicate that she was an escape
risk or that she posed any other threat. There was evidence from which
a fact finder could decide that the officer, in shackling the prisoner's
ankles to opposite sides of a hospital bed during the final stages of labor,
acted with deliberate indifference to her serious medical needs. She allegedly
knew that the prisoner had severe pain, that the labor was risky, and that
hospital personnel had requested that she be unshackled. The officer also
allegedly failed to abide by administrative regulations requiring her to
balance medical and security concerns in deciding whether to shackle the
inmate. At the time of the incident, September of 2003, the prisoner's
right to be free from unnecessary suffering was clearly established. Nelson
v. Correctional Medical Services; #07-2481, 2009 U.S. App. Lexis 21730
(8th Cir.).
Programs that provide
services to inmate mothers in California did not engage in unlawful sex
discrimination under state law by failing to provide the same services
and programs to male prisoners who are parents. One of the programs is
the Pregnant and Parenting Women’s Alternative Sentencing Program Act,
that funds community based facilities for programs designed to reduce drug
use and recidivism, and allows at least one eligible child to reside with
the mother at the facility if the mother has a history of substance abuse,
the child is under six, and the sentence is less than three years. The
second program "provides for a community treatment program for women
inmates sentenced to state prison who have one or more children under the
age of six. An incarcerated mother is eligible for the program if she has
a probable release or parole date with a maximum period of confinement
not exceeding six years; she was the primary caretaker of the infant prior
to incarceration; she has not been found to be an unfit parent; and she
does not pose an unreasonable risk to the public due to the nature of her
crime, the risk of absconding, or probable adverse conduct." Male
prisoners who are parents, the court found, were not shown to be similarly
situated to inmate mothers. "Most female inmates were convicted of
drug or property crimes, often victims of abuse, and more likely to be
single parents. [...] There were only a small percentage of male primary
caretakers." The court noted that,: "Government data showed these
women prisoners were likely to have been the primary or single caretaker
of their young children, who were likely to be displaced to other relatives
or foster care. By contrast, children of incarcerated men were likely to
continue living with their mothers." Woods v. Shewry, No. C056072,
2008 Cal. App. Lexis 1588; 167 Cal. App. 4th 658; 84 Cal. Rptr. 3d 332
(3rd Dist. Cal. App.).
Female juvenile adjudicated delinquent did
not show that her federal constitutional or statutory rights were violated
by the fact that a community corrections facility near her home did not
accept females, resulting in her having to serve 11 months in a juvenile
correctional facility and a drug rehabilitation center that were further
away. Her constitutional rights were not violated because she was provided
with opportunities comparable to those provided for male inmates. The decision
made by her family members not to drive to the facility where she was incarcerated
for attendance at family therapy sessions did not alter the fact that family
therapy was offered. Additionally for purposes of federal civil rights
statutes prohibiting sex discrimination in a governmental "program
or activity," the "program or activity" at issue was the
entire system of juvenile institutions operated by the State of Ohio, rather
than a particular juvenile facility. Lothes v. Butler County Juvenile Rehabilitation
Center, No. 06-3389, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 16559 (6th Cir.).
Co. jail facility for women was O.K.
except for sanitation needs of females caused by overcrowding. Fischer
v. Winter, 564 F.Supp. 281 (N.D. Cal. 1983).
Female inmates win cause on prison conditions
and get attorney fees. Glover v. Johnson, 531 F.Supp. 1036 (E.D. Mich.
1982).
Kentucky correctional institution for women
found in violation of equal protection clause by denying privileges and
job opportunities to female inmates that male inmates in area prisons receive.
Canterino v. Wilson, 546 F.Supp. 174 (W.D. Ky. 1982).
State correctional officials cannot close
women's prison without legislative act. DeVault v. Nicholson, 296 S.E.2d
682 (W. Va. 1982).
California court upholds majority of policies
at women's jail; orders due process rights to be accorded prior to administrative
segregation; awards $105,760 in attorney's fees. Inmates of Sybil Brand
Inst. v. City of Los Angeles, 181 Cal.Rptr. 599 (App. 1982).
Louisiana court holds that prison personnel
did not violate female inmate's constitutional rights by failing to provide
her with medical care; rules that such failure did not cause woman to spontaneously
abort child. Williams v. Delcambre, 413 So.2d 324 (La. App. 1982).
Appeals court works out compromise between
female inmates' right to privacy and male guards employment rights at New
York prison. Forts v. Ward, 621 F.2d 1210 (2nd Cir. 1980).
Under the California Constitution and the
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, female inmates are
entitled to the same jail assignment opportunities as male inmates. Molar
v. Gates, 159 Cal.Rptr. 239 (App. 1979).