Suit: Arizona authorities shackled pregnant inmate

A Mexican woman — a former inmate in Maricopa County, Arizona — claims in a lawsuit that sheriff’s officers mistreated her during and after her pregnancy, including shackling her while she was in labor and after her Caesarean section. According to the police report filed at the time of her arrest, Mendiola-Martinez was accused of using someone else’s name, date of birth and Social Security number to obtain work. She was arrested at her place of employment, a department store, while she was vacuuming the floor.

When arrested, she was six months’ pregnant and had developed gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, according to the suit. While incarcerated, she was told by jail staff she would receive a “special” pregnancy diet. That diet, she claims, consisted of “items such as two slices (of) cheese or ham, two slices of bread, indistinguishable cooked vegetables and occasionally a piece of fruit.” She also said she was given two small cartons of milk a day and a pill that she was told was a vitamin. Upon going into labor, she was again taken to the Maricopa Medical Center, where she gave birth to a son via Caesarean section. She was shackled before and after the surgery, according to the suit.

This story needs to be filed under both outrageous and inhumane.

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