Jerry Brown vetos bill to ban shackles for pregnant prisoners

[Liberal_in_LA]

Shackle ban for pregnant prisoners got every vote except Brown’s

Legislation to prevent prisons and jails in California from shackling pregnant inmates, unless they pose a danger to themselves or others, breezed through both houses without a negative vote. Its supporters included advocates for civil liberties, prisoners and women’s rights, as well as doctors, nurses and even the state prison guards’ union.

The only vote that Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner couldn’t get for AB568 was the one that counted the most, from Gov. Jerry Brown.

In his veto message Sunday, Brown said he was inclined at first to sign the bill, “because it certaintly seems inappropriate to shackle a pregnant woman unless absolutely necessary.” But AB568 goes too far, he said, “prohibiting not only shackling, but also the use of handcuffs or restraints of any kind except under ill-defined circumstances,” which “will only serve to sow confusion and invite lawsuits.”

It was music to the ears of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, whose members run the county jails and which was the only group to oppose the bill. Spokesman Curtis Hill, the former sheriff of San Benito County, said there’s no real evidence of hardships to pregnant women under the current guidelines for restraints by the state’s Corrections Standards Authority. All that AB568 would have accomplished, he said, was “a tremendous gray area” in the law and a potential bonanza for inmates’ attorneys.


http://blog.sfgate.com/crime/2011/10/11/shackle-ban-for-pregnant-prisoners-got-every-vote-except-browns/

[itsrobert]

1. Jerry is right again!

Go Jerry!

[Rex]

2. Hell he didn't go far enough! Mandatory shackles for the baby too!

Have them ready when that little thief pops out! He'll probably steal his own umbilical cord! SERIES!!!!!1111

I propose ABOU812 - Shackles for Jailhouse Babies.

[Renew Deal]

3. Can they override?