Law enforcement split on bill to ban shackling inmates during labor

Iowa corrections officials are split about the need for a bill banning shackles on pregnant women in labor.

“I think it's unnecessary legislation myself,” said Linn County Jail Administrator Michael Carr. “Anyone with common sense wouldn't do what they're prohibiting anyway.”

Iowa Senate File 101 and House File 173 are similar bills that prohibit prison or jail officials from using restraints on a pregnant inmate in labor, delivery or recovery unless the mother is likely to harm someone or is a substantial risk to escape.

The facility director, which could include a prison warden or county sheriff, must be the one to authorize restraints.

“I would be comfortable with that kind of language,” Tama County Sheriff Dennis Kucera said.

Restraining pregnant inmates has been a hot topic across the country.

Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill last spring prohibiting prisons and jails from shackling most inmates in labor or recovery. Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill in September. This was after groups like the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists condemned the practice, saying it could harm the baby or mother.

Iowa Rep. Renee Schulte, R-Cedar Rapids, proposed the House version of the legislation at the request of the Iowa Department of Human Rights.

Concerns raised in recent weeks about the bill include whether it should better define how long recovery from birth lasts and whether the bill is needed given the small number of women affected.

Fewer than 80 women gave birth in Iowa's prison system in the last five years. The 13 women who were pregnant in the prison system in the year that ended June 30, 2010, made up less than 2 percent of the 707 female inmates in Iowa's prisons. There have been no cases in the past five years when pregnant women were restrained during labor, Department of Corrections Spokesman Fred Scaletta said.

Pregnancies in county jails are even rarer, sheriffs said.

But for prison moms and their families, prohibiting restraints is an important issue.

“A lady who just had a baby and her tubes tied, I don't think she's going to go anywhere,” said Dan Copeland Jr., the husband of Khrista Erdman, an Iowa prison inmate who gave birth Dec. 26.

Erdman, who is serving time for forgery, burglary and parole violations, was not restrained during labor or immediately after her daughter's birth, but guards put ankle cuffs on her the next day. Erdman told The Gazette in an interview Dec. 27 that the restraints, coupled with her physical recovery, made it difficult to shower.

Iowa's prison system is working to draft its first formal policy on shackling pregnant inmates. The bills proposed at the Statehouse mirror what already occurs in Iowa's prisons, Scaletta said.

“Basically, it's what we've been doing all along,” he said.

The Iowa corrections department doesn't use ankle irons for most pregnant inmates in their third trimester. Officials put handcuffs on women they are taking to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics - where almost all pregnant inmates give birth - but restraints are removed once the moms are admitted.

All prison inmates at UI are in the custody of an officer, but wardens might assign an additional guard to a high-risk offender who is giving birth, officials said. Guards stand behind a curtain or outside the inmate's room to verify who goes in and out. Restraints can be used in the recovery period.

Rep. Tom Shaw, R-Laurens, said he doesn't think it's necessary to make a law about restraining inmates.

“I believe we should work with the Department of Corrections and the Sheriff's Association to get some regulations in place,” he said.

Isaiah McGee, director of the human rights department, said discussions with law enforcement agencies may bring about the desired change. “Even if this bill doesn't make it out of funnel, we have some avenues to address the issue,” he said.