I'm Just a Bill to Ban the Shackling of Pregnant Inmates

On Tuesday, the state House passed a bill to ban shackling of inmates during childbirth in the commonwealth's prisons and in county jails. The state Senate previously passed the legislation, so it heads to Governor Rendell for his signature, which is expected.

The reaction we usually get when we talk about this bill is shock that it's even necessary, but Pennsylvania would become only the eighth state to ban this cruel practice by statute. A few states also ban it by policy, as does the federal Bureau of Prisons and the federal Marshalls Service.

Hopefully you don't need this blog post to convince you why this bill is needed. To read our arguments, you can check out our press release after Tuesday's vote and also see the memos we submitted in support of the bill at our legislation page.

What I really want to write about is the process on how this happened. Numerous legislators from both parties and from both chambers played a role in getting SB 1074 to the governor's desk. If any one of them had balked, the bill would have died. It's very difficult to get legislation passed, even on a slam dunk issue like this one.

Consider the impact of these legislators:

Senator Daylin Leach. Senator Leach is the primary sponsor of SB 1074 and advocated for his bill. That should be a given, but often legislators introduce legislation but don't lobby for it. Senator Leach did that.

Senator Stewart Greenleaf. Senator Greenleaf is the powerful chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Leach is the Democratic minority chairman of that committee.) Like all chairmen, Greenleaf makes decisions about what bills will be considered by the committee. When Leach asked Greenleaf to consider SB 1074, Greenleaf was willing to do that.

Rep. Thomas Caltagirone. Rep. Caltagirone is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and ensured that the bill got out of his committee. In addition, when Caltagirone became concerned that the bill might not get a vote in the House, he amended the language into another bill in his committee. That set off a chain of events that got the bill on the House floor.

Rep. Babette Josephs. Rep. Josephs personally advocated with House leadership to get SB 1074 before the full House. Two days later, it was on the House floor. (Full disclosure, Rep. Josephs is a member of the board of our Greater Philadelphia chapter.)

Senator Dominic Pileggi and Rep. Todd Eachus. The majority leaders of their respective chambers saw to it that the bill did get a vote before their members.

Like a clock missing a gear, if any one of these steps had not occurred, the bill would have stopped.

For the record, if this bill is signed by the governor, it will be the first bill in the 2009-10 session supported by the ACLU of PA that has become law. For now, no bill we oppose has become law. This classic Schoolhouse Rock cartoon illustrates why that is.



Andy in Harrisburg

Last week was a good week at the state capitol

The joke around here is that civil liberties are safest when the state legislature is on vacation. So please look at that headline again and enjoy it. Here's what we had cooking last week.

Shackling pregnant inmates in childbirth: Senate Bill 1074 would ban the practice of restraining pregnant inmates during childbirth in Pennsylvania's state prisons and county jails. The ACLU of PA supports the bill.

It's hard to believe that this is even an issue. As one Senate staffer said to me, "I can't believe we have to legislate commonsense." Sadly, the ACLU of PA and our allies have heard anecdotes of this happening. There's a word for people who think that a woman in labor is a flight risk- men.

Last Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted the bill to the floor of the Senate.

Philadelphia Weekly and even the BBC have covered the issue. On Sunday, The Patriot News of Harrisburg editorialized in favor of SB 1074:

Legislators should pass this measure so no more babies are born to mothers shackled while in labor, like some scene from medieval times. Pennsylvania can do better.

The powers of the PA Game Commission: Under current law, officers of the Pennsylvania Game Commission can stop and search a person "at any time." That's actually how the law is written. House Bill 181 would require commission officers to follow the same standards as police officers- reasonable suspicion for a stop and probable cause for a search. The ACLU of PA supports the bill.

HB 181 passed out of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee on a unanimous vote, and the bill is in its legislative home stretch. Barring a Senate floor amendment, it now only needs to be passed by the Senate before going to the governor. At this point, the governor's position on the bill is not known, so we will be working hard to advocate with him in favor of HB 181.

Sexting: The House Judiciary Committee was scheduled to consider House Bill 2189, which deals with teenagers sending semi-nude, nude, and sexually provocative pictures of themselves and others to romantic partners and friends. You may be aware that we have a pending case involving an overzealous DA who thought girls in their underwear was child pornography.

HB 2189 is so broad that constitutionally-protected activity would suddenly become a crime. A teenage couple consensually sending nude pictures to each other would be criminal, but this activity is protected by the First Amendment. If this bill becomes law as it is currently written, it will most certainly be challenged. The Times Tribune and WITF-FM have covered some of our concerns with the bill.

But a storm is gathering. And I use that phrase on purpose. Last week Senator John Eichelberger announced his plan to introduce a state constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. The commonwealth has a financial crisis, a pension crisis, and a corrections crisis, but Senator Eichelberger thinks the best thing he can do with his time is worry about the gay couple next door.

We beat this in 06. We beat it in 08. Let's go for the three-peat in 10.

Also, the sexting bill is back on the House Judiciary Committee's agenda for February 9, and none of our concerns have been addressed. We're putting on the full court press with assistance from the Juvenile Law Center.

I don't want to end on a downer, so here's some good news. We are cautiously optimistic that the shackling bill, SB 1074, and the Game Commission bill, HB 181, will both get positive votes before the full Senate in March or April.

And beware of big gay rainstorms in your future.....

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

Andy in Harrisburg