Nashville court awards damages to shackled pregnant woman but in Arizona, it’s the ‘same-old, same-old.’

“Laws seeking to regulate human actions should not embrace savage measures.” – Cesare Beccaria

“Forensic restraint”

When I relocated to Maricopa County, Arizona 3 years ago, one of the first news stories I read concerned 35-year old Alma Chacon, an undocumented pregnant woman shackled to a hospital bed by a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy while she gave birth.

Chacon was in the custody of Maricopa County’s ‘finest’ because of an alleged outstanding warrant over an expired license tag. Though 9 months pregnant, she was arrested. Later that night, she went into labor and gave birth to a baby girl —- although she had one hand and one leg chained to the hospital bed.

I read Chacon’s story in the bilingual newspaper,“La Voz,” but the well-written account by senior reporter Valeria Fernandez soon got traction in the English language press. See, for example, the following news account, which features the sheriff department’s disingenuous explanatory euphemism,“forensic restraint,” meaning shackling a detainee’s leg to a hospital bed, “Pregnant Latina Says She Was Forced to Give Birth in Shackles.”

Arizona Capitol, Photo © by Jeff Dean

Of course, this happened well before the subsequent uproar attendant SB1070, the still substantively suspended Arizona anti-illegal immigration law. Besides Arizona’s tolerance of political ineptitude and corruption, that much lauded or reviled measure is the state’s other ‘claim to fame.’ See, for instance, “Whatever happened to (insert your favorite political corruption investigation here)?” and “Distinctions without differences: AZ tweaks anti-illegal immigrant law.”

Little did I realize but the news story about the shackled pregnant woman was a prescient indicator of a sociocultural climate as hot against so-called “illegals” as the state’s thermometer-busting heat index. How hot? Around here, longtime residents believe that months of triple-digit temperatures are just tolerably balmy diversions coincident to life in the comfort zone aptly named the “Valley of the Sun.”

Cesare Beccaria

Chacon’s story also reminded me of how quickly current society forgets historically antecedent wisdoms. For instance, wasn’t it supposedly a less enlightened time when 18th century philosopher Cesare Beccaria said, “Laws seeking to regulate human actions should not embrace savage measures.”?

But Chacon was not the last pregnant and paperless immigrant to suffer mistreatment at the hands of those working for the self-proclaimed “Toughest Sheriff in America,” Joe Arpaio. It’s just the same-old, same-old in Maricopa County.

There was Miriam Mendiola, whose story was reported at “Woman gives birth, then gets shackled in Ariz.“ And Valeria Fernandez’ also reported not only about Chacon but about Miriam Mendiola and about  Maria del Carmen Garcia and Celia Alejandra Alvarez. See “U.S.: Detained Migrant Women Shackled During Childbirth – IPS ….”

Joe Arpaio

And as concerns the antics of the always publicity-seeking sheriff, also see “Marketing the Media’s ‘Toughest Sheriff’“ and “Arpaio’s critics call for resignation, indictment; Arpaio scoffs.”

‘Equal opportunity’ shackling.

Anticipating the probable angry rejoinders that shackling “serves them right since these illegals aren’t supposed to be here anyway,” the practice of shackling pregnant women transcends immigration status.

It’s an unfortunate truth that handcuffs and leg irons are equal opportunity measures. Five years ago, the problem was highlighted at “Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor” – “New York Times” and again at “Mothers behind bars,” by The Rebecca Project for Human Rights, National Women’s Law Center. The Rebecca Project study is “a state-by-state report card and analysis of federal policies on conditions of confinement for pregnant and parenting women and the effect on their children.” 

Currently, only 13 states ban the practice. Ironically, last year came news that California Governor “Schwarzenegger Vetoes Bill to Ban Shackling of Pregnant Women.”

Juana Villegas.

This past Thursday, on remarkably similar facts to Alma Chacon’s, Juana Villegas, for being “shackled during labor was awarded damages from deputies” employed by Davidson County, Tennessee.

In Villegas’ case, she too, was 9 months pregnant. She was accompanied by her three children when she was stopped by Berry Hill Municipal police on a traffic charge for careless driving. When she couldn’t produce a driver’s license, she was arrested and taken to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office where civil immigration charges were brought.

And after being placed in immigration custody, like Chacon, Villegas’ hands and feet were shackled to the hospital bed while she gave birth. She sued the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office. See Villegas v. Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, No.09- CV-00219 (M.D. Tenn. filed March 4, 2009).

Thanks to “The Tennessean,” the police video of her arrest is also viewable here, “Police video footage of Juana Villegas’ arrest July, 2008 | Video” For additional reportage, also see “Tenn. woman shackled while in labor wins case” and“Immigrant woman seeks legal status after court victory” – CNN.com

But back in Arizona and the case of Alma Chacon versus the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, the status or disposition of that suit is unknown. But it’s hard to overlook the highly coincidental confluence between what happened to both women at the hands of their respective sheriff’s departments. Both incidents took place in 2008. Both were arrested for what might otherwise be nominally minor traffic stops.

But while separated in time by only a few months and a distance of 1638 miles, their stories could be otherwise indistinguishable.  However, given the stark realities of undocumented immigrant life in Arizona, it’s mere speculation whether their outcomes will also coincide.

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Photo Credit: “Joe Arpaio,” by Greg Skidmore via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported; “Standard leg irons,” by User:Klaus with K via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.