Crime Factories

That's what our prisons are, thanks to dehumanizing behavior like this. The conservative "law and order" crowd would no doubt deride such bleeding-heart liberal sentiment as "coddling prisoners," but there's a clear pragmatic reason for what they call "coddling": recidivism. Intervention in the form of counseling, education, training, and job placement seems like a common-sense way to reduce the number of repeat offenders. The self-righteous punitive emphasis in incarceration is wrong-headed and immoral, in my humble opinion, as is the racism that should be obvious to all except...well, racists.

Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor | theledger.com

Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark., had been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport Hospital on Sept. 20, 2003. Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled together and who had been given nothing stronger than Tylenol all day, begged, according to court papers, to have the shackles removed.

Though her doctor and two nurses joined in the request, her lawsuit says, the guard in charge of her refused.

"She was shackled all through labor," said Ms. Nelson's lawyer, Cathleen V. Compton. "The doctor who was delivering the baby made them remove the shackles for the actual delivery at the very end."

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