Relates to the restraint of pregnant female prisoners during childbirth

3 Co-sponsors

• Brad Hoylman-Sigal
• Liz Krueger
• Kathleen A. Marchione

BILL NUMBER:S983A

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to the restraint of pregnant female prisoners during childbirth

Purpose

To strengthen the prohibition against shackling women prisoners during labor.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends Correction Law § 611 to clarify the exception to the rule against shackling women in labor and to expand the anti-shackling law to include any pregnant woman or woman during a postpartum period of 8 weeks.

Section 2 provides an effective date.

Justification

In 2009 the State Legislature amended section 611 of the correction law to specify that women prison and jail inmates who are in labor cannot be shackled during transport to the place where they will give birth or during labor, delivery and recovery absent extraordinary circumstances. In spite of this legislation, incarcerated women are still sometimes being shackled illegally during transport, labor and delivery. The intention of this bill is to require preapproval of shackling by the superintendent of a prison or a county sheriff and to remove the authority for deciding there are extraordinary circumstances from the correctional staff providing transportation or accompanying a woman into a hospital. The bill also expands the prohibition against shackling to include pregnant women in general and women who are up to eight weeks postpartum. It also requires that notice of this section of the law be given to all women in correctional facilities upon admission and to any woman who is known to be pregnant. The bill also requires an annual report to the Legislature about the circumstances under which women are shackled pursuant to the extraordinary circumstances exception.

Fiscal implications

None.

Local fiscal implications

None

Effective date

Immediately.