| Child abuse by CDC revealed at mother-child prison |
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| Staff | |
| Wednesday, 11 July 2007 | |
 For the 75 percent of women prisoners in the U.S. who are mothers, mother-child prisons may seem better than separation, but in California that option may jeopardize children’s health and lives. In one instance, Denisha Lawson, a prisoner at FFP San Diego, gave birth to a premature baby who became very ill shortly after she left the hospital. After pleading with FFP staff for days to take her baby to the hospital, Denisha refused to move until her baby received care. When finally taken to the hospital, the infant was in near complete cardiac arrest. Denisha Lawson’s partner, William Ramirez, father of the newborn baby, asks: “If Family Foundations is supposed to be a treatment facility, why would they do this to women and babies? Denisha did nothing wrong — she was only trying to protect our daughter.” “Women will go through a lot to stay with their children. The CDCR has created a system where women are afraid to complain because they don’t want to be separated. I can only imagine their fear and anger when they realize that their children are in danger!” said Harriette Davis, board secretary of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and a former prisoner who sued for access to a mother-infant program when she was pregnant with her daughter in the 1980s. “LSPC and other advocates must be allowed access to all mother-infant facilities run by the CDCR to ensure that women and children know their rights and are receiving proper care,” said Cassie Pierson, staff attorney at LSPC. In addition to expressing concern for their children’s health, mothers are scrambling to find the daily essentials needed for their children’s care. In an unprecedented show of unity, all 26 women at the FFP in San Diego filed a grievance on June 20, 2007, asking how their children’s money is being spent when the facility is chronically undersupplied with diapers, bottles and other necessities. “We’d like to know how our funds are allocated and why we always run short. We’d like an ample amount of supplies in stock so as to prevent these situations from occurring in the future,” the grievance states. Former FFP San Diego employee Megan N. Lini, when told about this public scandal – the New York Times broke the story July 6 – expressed deep fear for her former clients: “I only hope that no child gets separated from their mother because of the criminal actions of FFP staff. I wish I could have done more to protect these people while I was working there.” California is one of a handful of states that offer imprisoned mothers the opportunity to live with their children, the New York Times reported. In California, there is space for only 140 women prisoners to have their children with them. Even supporters of mother-child prison programs “worry that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or C.D.C., may be too dysfunctional to provide sufficient oversight,” reported the New York Times. Examples cited by the Times include “one inmate, Marsha Strickland, (who) complained to the staff about her 5-year-old daughter’s blinding headaches and constant nausea for at least six weeks before the girl was allowed a hospital visit in January, according to accounts by inmates and former staff members. The child is now living with relatives and undergoing treatment for brain cancer. “In April, another prisoner, Sonya Bradford, delivered a stillborn fetus. According to interviews with former staff members and to witness statements offered to the San Diego police, the prison’s staff had ignored Ms. Bradford’s complaints that the fetus, which was 7 months old, had stopped moving. Corrections officials deny responsibility for the stillbirth because it occurred only two days after Ms. Bradford’s arrival at the center.” Quoting Robert J. LaLonde, a University of Chicago economist, the Times reported: “‘A lot of women who probably wouldn’t have gone to prison before are now going in for Class 4 drug felonies - the least serious felonies,’ Dr. LaLonde said, referring to crimes that in some instances had previously resulted in nothing more than probation.” Advocates say this investigation shows that punitive programs are not the answer to substance abuse and use and that isolation does not stop this cycle. Maisha Quint, family advocacy coordinator at LSPC, said: “There is a better way. If you really want to help women rehabilitate, stop putting them in hidden cages. These women need real community-run programs where they and their children can heal.” Cynthia Chandler, co-director of Justice Now, an Oakland-based organization that advocates for the legal and human rights of women in prison, explains: “The pattern of abuse at Family Foundations is exactly why women in prison and their advocates have been opposed to prison expansion in any form. With judges poised to cap the prison population and prisoner medical care already under federal receivership, it is clear that expanding the system just isn’t an option.” For more information, contact Patrice Douglass, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or write to Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, 1540 Market St., Suite 490, San Francisco, CA 94102, or call (415) 255-7036. |
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