A young Abilene woman unexpectedly stepped before a crowd to describe the terrifying experience of bearing a child by herself in a jail cell; this remarkable video was made at a gathering to protest conditions in the Taylor County Jail. Organizer Lance Voorhees, who is also a jail chaplain, led the protest. From The Lance

from Justice Fellowship, 2011          The practice of shackling—the placement of restraints or chains around ankles, waist and hands—usually happens when pregnant women are transported from one area to another, transferred to a new prison or taken to a hospital for medical care. A more egregious form of shackling is that during

Monday, September 28, 2009, Waco Tribune New state regulations that went into effect this month regarding the treatment of inmates who are pregnant or have mental health issues mostly boil down to paperwork that local corrections officials say they already do. “Most of it is just an extra (box on a form) or item to keep

An awesome alliance got some help for pregnant inmates in Texas county jails. As of September 1, there are two new laws: HB 3653: requires all county and state facilities to STOP SHACKLING women inmates during labor and delivery; HB 3654: changed Jail Standards by now requiring county jails to have a MEDICAL CARE plan

Texas Jail Project director Diana Claitor sat in on the hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeals, October 21 (see details below). She was there out of concern about civil rights and the rights of pregnant women in particular. Texas Jail Project is one of 52 groups, experts and advocates, from Texas and the U.S., that

Sarah was sentenced to 180 days at the Harris County Jail on a misdemeanor from Family Court. There are two jails in Harris County: Big Baker and Little Baker. Sarah spent time in both and eventually served a total of three months. Big Baker is the housing for inmates who are considered High Risk. She

We cannot name the person or the county in this report because we need to protect the privacy and safety of the inmate and her family who shared her story with TJP. Earlier this month, 18 year-old Jessica B. was arrested for violating her probation, resulting in a six-month sentence. At the time of her

When arrested and incarcerated in the Victoria County Jail, Diane was wanted in Texas on criminal trespassing charges for climbing a tower at Dow Chemical to unfurl a banner protesting how the company failed to take responsibility for the 1984 chemical disaster in Bhopal, India, where 150,000 people were poisoned. The following is a January