Jail sued over pregnant women placed in solitary confinement
Source: Associated Press
Joe Mandak, Associated Press
Updated 2:17 pm, Monday, December 19, 2016
PITTSBURGH (AP) The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the state's second-largest county for putting pregnant inmates in solitary confinement in its jail.
The federal lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of five pregnant women. Four of the women are or recently were in the Pittsburgh jail, and the fifth is at risk of being jailed if she violates terms of her house arrest.
Online court records show at least three of the pregnant women have recent drug-related offenses or probation violations for drug-related crimes, though it couldn't immediately be determined whether any of the drug offenses or probation violations occurred once the women were pregnant.
"It is widely recognized that placing pregnant women in solitary confinement is extremely dangerous for both mother and child," said attorney David Fawcett, who is donating his time to assist the ACLU in the lawsuit. "The routine and thoughtless use of this practice is a real black mark on our county and must end now."
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/ACLU-sues-Pennsylvania-jail-over-pregnant-women-10806383.php
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