To do these searches, they would take me and often another pregnant woman and put us in the isolation or solitary confinement cells. From then on, their treatment of me grew more abusive and worse.įrom that time on, if I requested medical care, or said I was not feeling well, the housing guards… would all tell me that my problem was that I was on drugs, and they would strip me, meaning they would subject me to the humiliating and degrading practice of doing strip search and body cavity search. When I again refused to agree to an abortion, the deputies yelled at me and told me I was on drugs. When I refused to go, she had two men come to my housing pod, trying to forcibly take me to have an abortion. Mohrbacher told the court she doesn't trust the jailhouse doctor "because she is always promoting abortions" and scheduled Mohrbacher for one even though she wants to have her baby.Īlthough I refused to consent to an abortion, she scheduled me for an abortion. But she has still seen staff pressure other pregnant prisoners, particularly Mohrbacher. Now around 30 weeks pregnant, Ellis has stopped getting these comments herself. "Up until I was past four months pregnant, the medical staff kept handing me pamphlets to tell me that the 'option for abortion is available,'" said Erin Ellis, who has been imprisoned at Santa Rita since last October. The pregnant plaintiffs from Santa Rita say none of them were ever told about or saw such a plan.Ī lawyer for Alameda County said he is not able to comment on the case. Under California law, jails must provide an individualized plan of care for each pregnant inmate. Jaclyn Mohrbacher, pregnant inmate at Santa Rita since mid-December 2017 Breakfast is at 3:30 or 4 a.m., and if I am unable to get up to go to breakfast, which is most days, then I must endure 18-19 hours of no food from dinner to lunch. The only care I receive that is different than what the rest of the women prisoners receive is that my vital signs are monitored three times day, including every day at 2 a.m.
Those passing through are primarily pre-trial detainees (people who haven't been convicted of any crime yet) and people serving time for minor offenses or probation violations.Īs part of the new lawsuit, nine current and former inmates submitted statements detailing their experiences at Santa Rita. Run by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office (ACS), this "mega-jail" features 18 self-contained housing units that can hold around 4,000 prisoners. It houses most people, including all women, who are locked up in Alameda County, an area that neighbors San Francisco and includes the cities of Berkeley and Oakland. Santa Rita is the third largest jail in California and the fifth largest it the country. One inmate was allegedly left alone in solitary confinement to give birth. At Santa Rita, they're subject to all sorts of conditions that could cause harm to a developing fetus and increase the risk of birth defects or miscarriage, according to the new lawsuit. The treatment of expectant mothers can be especially bad, with pregnant prisoners denied proper nutrition and prenatal care and, in some places, forced to give birth in shackles. At jails and prisons around the country, female inmates face the standard abuses inflicted on male prisoners as well as those unique to their sex, from being forced to "free bleed" during their periods if they can't afford to buy tampons to facing higher levels of sexual assault and coercion from guards and staff. The women's suit comes as attention is rising about the plight of incarcerated women. They also speak to a major and overlooked issue in the criminal justice system: how the treatment of pregnant prisoners punishes not just the women themselves but also inflicts harm on their unborn children. But they provide an invaluable glimpse at the sorts of systemic degradation many such institutions foster, and give voice to an often voiceless and powerless population. The jailhouse horror stories they tell can be tough to read. She is one of six named plaintiffs in the case. "It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby while incarcerated at Santa Rita," plaintiff Christina Zepeda-who miscarried while in the county's custody last August-told the court.
In a new federal lawsuit, they're asking a federal judge to intervene on behalf of them and future female prisoners, particularly those who are pregnant. Women imprisoned at California's Santa Rita Jail say they're being housed in filthy conditions, denied basic hygiene products, pressured to have abortions, subjected to incessant strip searches, and forced to endure many other manners of cruel and inhumane treatment from guards and staff at the Alameda County facility.
0 kommentar(er)
