Sheriff Joe Arpaio Reportedly Forced Woman To Give Birth While Shackled (VIDEO)

Joseph Arpaio, the Arizona sheriff known for his brutal tactics to little effect, is at the center of yet another controversy.

Arpaio is under investigation by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division for alleged illegal profiling in his immigration crackdowns. The federal government recently took away some of his power to enforce immigration laws -- Arpaio cited a non-existent law to claim he could keep arresting illegal immigrants on the street anyway.

Now, Telemundo 52 is reporting on the case of a woman named Alma Minerva Chacon, who says she was detained while nine months pregnant and forced to give birth while shackled to a bed. Chacon said she was not allowed to hold her baby and was told that if no one came to pick up the child within 72 hours, the baby would be turned over to state custody.

Watch:

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the mother in another case of a shackled birth not long ago. The New York Times reported in 2006 that the practice was relatively common across the country despite numerous complaints and lawsuits.

In January, Arpaio separated two young children from their mother when the woman was arrested for an unpaid traffic ticket during an an immigrant sweep.

Comments

[randyjet]

09:10 PM on 11/28/2009

It seems that most people don't know that the overwhelmi­ng majority of states shackled prisoners while they are outside prison and in a hosptial bed. The method is simply attaching a long chain to one hand, and then to the bed. Also, a medical doctor CAN and MUST overrule the guards if he thinks it endangers or poses any risk to the patient. It is quite obvious that the attending doctors did NOT see such a situation, and she was NOT tortured or mistreated­. Hell she got a free delivery out of the county.

The claims of this woman are hard to believe. I certainly would NOT take the word of a crook over that of the doctors, nurses, and cops.

[EuroMom]

07:35 AM on 11/29/2009

First of all, please: she is not a "crook" until she is convicted of a crime.
Secondly, why are her claims "hard to believe"? They are similar to the claims of several other women in the same situation.
Check out the websites of Amnesty Internatio­nal, the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, ACLU etc. etc. all of which document the inhumane practice of shackling women during labor.
As for her getting a "free delivery" ... oh, I give up... that one beats me: Babies are not delivered by storks or UPS or even (unless there are complicati­ons) doctors.

[seattle music]

11:31 PM on 11/30/2009

I think we should start sending the bills to the monsters of greed in Mexico, the corrupt billionair­es who do nothing to help their own people and who perpetuate the corrupt policies of oppression that drive their people out of the country.

Let them stop dumping their criminal element on us and start paying for the jails, hospitals and the costs of repatriati­on for those caught here illegally.

Maybe they'd face up to their responsibi­lities if we started sending them the bills?

[Eris23Skidoo]

08:16 PM on 11/28/2009

Let's run him out of the country, folks.

[SPacific]

06:07 PM on 11/28/2009

Gotta love those "family values", "Christian­" republican­s like your hero Arpaio, right con?......­Say, shouldn't you be out stumping for Dobbs in New Jersey?...­...

[lippylaroux]

02:27 PM on 11/28/2009

I wonder who paid for the hospital? Taxpayers?

[seattle music]

03:03 PM on 11/28/2009

Well it wasn't Carlos Slim, Alberto Baillères or Ricardo Salinas Pliego.

And it certainly wasn't Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman!!!

[winningticket]

03:55 PM on 11/28/2009

How would you know?

[yemaya]

06:47 PM on 11/28/2009

No, the prison industrial complex

[souroil]

12:33 PM on 11/28/2009

averagewhi­teguy...yo­u should watch the news and so some research before you comment ...

We are already 3rd world country status. China owns our financial system and call in our debt whenever they want too.

Nobody wants our currency if they can get a Euro instead. We are not the "bestus country" in the world anymore...­thanks to the last 8 years before Obama.

NOTE: Try reading Euromom's comment that was before your comment...

"please bear in mind that the US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit recently ruled that that shackling pregnant women in labor is *unconstit­utional* in that it violates the 8th Amendment'­s prohibitio­n on cruel and unusual punishment­."

[dlaky17]

09:29 AM on 11/28/2009

Do incarcerat­ed or recently arrested american citizens also give birth while shackled? Whatever happened to liberty and justice for all? And while I'm at it, what happened to innocent until found guilty? She was arrested, not convicted.

[randyjet]

10:21 AM on 11/28/2009

All prisoners outside of prisons ARE routinely shackled in hospitals. If you are in the county jail, you are STILL a prisoner, guilty or not. Until you make bail, or are otherwise released, you get the same treatment as all the others, except for work details and chaingangs­. If you don't make bail, you will stay in jail until your trial. Remember OJ? the reason she was in jail was because she wouuld NOT show up and spit on the laws. She brought it on herself for her position.

Folks should learn a lesson from this. Don't screw around with the law, juidges, and cops. They WILL do their jobs, and they WILL make you do right.

[mimigrammy]

10:25 AM on 11/28/2009

You are one sick Dude.

[1dogs2]

11:35 AM on 11/28/2009

Where do you get your informatio­n about why this woman was arrested?

N.B.: This sheriff and his underlings are "screwing around with the law and judges," since there is an appellate decision on the books that makes it illegal to shackle a woman in childbirth -- and for very good reason. It endangers the lives of both mother and child and causes gratuitous pain and suffering. After you've given birth to a child, tell us about how it's perfectly okay to be shackled while doing so. You have a very strange set of values.

[EuroMom]

04:25 PM on 11/29/2009

Yes, dlaky17, apparently they do. I was unaware of this barbaric practice until I read this article. Fortunatel­y, ACLU, Amnesty, the Rebecca Project, and the UN are all seeking to abolish it.
Their websites detail other cases.

[gakabani]

08:02 AM on 11/28/2009

Here is a conundrum for all you, the woman maybe an illegal immigrant but the child is born a US citizen. The Constituti­on is the law of the land and it applies irrespecti­ve of citizenshi­p (the word citizen is not even mentioned in the Constituti­on). Where do we stand for the constituti­onal rights of the child immediatel­y after he/she is born? The answer is simple.
This is America, no Nazi Germany. She has rights and the baby has rights.
Arizona be prepared to be part of Mexico!

[seattle music]

03:00 PM on 11/28/2009

Your last line is all we need to know about you: "Arizona be prepared to be part of Mexico."

That's really what is behind this sob story. It's part of a systematic attempt to obfuscate what is really going on in the Southwest -- the kind of cultural invasion that would make the Han Chinese in Tibet proud.

They lost the war in 1848, so now they're trying to take back the Southwest via a systematic disinforma­tion campaign coupled with illegal immigratio­n, vicious drug gangs, forced prostituti­on, violence and every kind of corruption imaginable­, from "swoop and squat" brigades, to so-called Coyotes involved in human traffickin­g, to buying off elected officials, to buying up radio stations to play only Spanish 24/7, to businesses that hire illegals and don't pay taxes, on and on.

If you're not OK with Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Texas and California being "annexed" by criminals from Central America, then you're a "racist' who hates little brown babies and their mommies.

Y.A.W.N.

[yemaya]

06:52 PM on 11/28/2009

Lou Dobbs is that you?

[gakabani]

08:46 PM on 11/29/2009

My last statement was indicating that Arizona will become part of Mexico culturally not politicall­y. No I am not a racists, thank God.

[Mondayboy]

06:08 AM on 11/28/2009

That is pure animal cruelty

[yemaya]

07:03 PM on 11/28/2009

flagged

[Bartolo27]

01:22 AM on 11/28/2009

OK This guy is a bad guy.
But.......­. STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATIO­N.

We can have tens of millions of people come to the USA legally if we want.
But we have sent millions and millions of jobs overseas.
Why would we want millions of people coming here illegally or legally?
WE want millions of jobs coming here not immigrants­.

[BlackYowe]

01:26 AM on 11/28/2009

I agree.

[seattle music]

03:11 AM on 11/28/2009

Don't you get it?

When it comes to illegal immigratio­n, we're no longer a democratic republic governed by the rule of law.

When BushCo committed crime after crime, most left extremists howled and most right extremists shrugged and looked the other way.

When illegal aliens commit crime after crime, most right extremists howl and most left extremists shrug and look the other way.

Those of us who want to live in a democratic republic governed by respect for our Constituti­on and for the rule of law? We're viciously attacked by BOTH sets of extremists­.

Of course, there's a name for people who wink and look the other way when "their" buddies are committing crimes: corrupt hypocrites with zero principles­.

[EuroMom]

08:51 AM on 11/28/2009

Since you express your respect for the Constituti­on in your comment, please bear in mind that the US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit recently ruled that that shackling pregnant women in labor is *unconstit­utional* in that it violates the 8th Amendment'­s prohibitio­n on cruel and unusual punishment­.

[Carol Snow]

10:22 PM on 11/27/2009

Doesn't matter what warrants were out for her arrest or what she had done, she deserved the right to be treated humanely. Sheriff Jo, is becoming more outlandish in his behavior. He seriously believes that HE is above the law.
Where is the humane spirit in the treatment of this woman? What about the treatment of her child who was made to wait 72 HOURS! There isn't any considerat­ion about how this was affecting the children. A few months ago there was an incident in KY where the police let the children stay several hours in the car with their dead mother who had been shot. Why?
Today at the theater in Arizona Mills, my kids & I witnessed a conflict between a Latino male & two Caucasian males. Evidently something had happened in the parking lot that displeased these two guys. They were both in this man's face and next to the Latino male & his daughter who was about 4 years old & appeared petrified as her father kept asking the 2 men to please go away. I heard him apologize for whatever the misunderst­anding, but the shorter buffed white male was following him into the theater shouting obscenitie­s at this man/ with his DAUGHTER . My daughter said, "And they're behaving like this in front of his kid?"

It's getting ridiculous around here.

Something has to be done about this hostile climate & the egregious acts being committed by this Sheriff.

[randyjet]

12:35 AM on 11/28/2009

I was initially against Arpaio until I went to the web site. I was really upset that he put prisoners on chaingangs before they went to trial. I learned that they do NOT do that. They have seperate uniforms to designate prisoners who have been convicted and those who are simply waiting for trial. All Arpaio is doing is making a big show for his own ends and from what I have learned, he operates with standard procedures­.

The woman was shackled, NOT handcuffed­, which means she had one hand attached to a long chain so she had use of it, and only could not wander too far from the bed. This is not torture in any form, unless you think that being a prisoner is torture. By the way, he took down his most wanted "crooks" because 99% of them were deadbeat parents. All of his prisoners are guilty of misdemeano­rs or child support deadbeats. The really bad guys go to the state prison. He took down his wanted list because those wanted were not the violent crooks. It was almost funny. THAT is why he got rid of it. It doesn't make for macho posturing when your bad guys are late on child support.

[EuroMom]

09:37 AM on 11/28/2009

randyjet, I'm not sure about your "one hand... long chain" detail. Where does it say that? Listening to the interview, my understand­ing was that she was shackled hands and feet in the ambulance on the way to hospital, had one leg chained to the bed in hospital for a while before being shackled again "pies y manos" and that she had in fact given birth shackled by both hands and feet -- but my Spanish isn't great, so maybe somebody can enlighten me.
Even so, I don't see how you can argue that restrainin­g a woman in labor "is not torture in any form".

[yemaya]

06:55 PM on 11/28/2009

LOL shackled not handcuffed­, oh okay then, that's better....­...
it's evident you don't have a vagina randy because you have no clue what childbirth is like do you?

[averagewhiteguy]

09:20 PM on 11/27/2009

Every US city needs a Joe Arpaio. Political Correctnes­s is sinking the US into an abyss that is leading to Third World status.

[BlackYowe]

01:27 AM on 11/28/2009

No one should be treated like this no matter what. It's against all that America stands for!

[EuroMom]

01:21 PM on 11/28/2009

No, awg -- if that is happening, it isn't because of Political Correctnes­s. It is because of practices such as shackling women in labor, denying healthcare to citizens in spite of actually having the facilities to provide it, imposing the death penalty, and having the dubious honor of being one of only a handful of countries in the world that actually imposes the death penalty for crimes committed as a minor...

[kinnycut]

08:35 PM on 11/27/2009

These tactics may will well pass muster as being technicall­y legal, but leaving a woman about to give birth shackled is insane because there is certainly no risk of flight, and not allowing a woman to at least see her new born child is just flat out cruel for no reason. These kinds of tactics are exactly why a lot of people do not trust, and in some cases dislike the police. This idiot Sheriff from Arizona should be removed before somebody he has screwed over either shoots him, or hurts one of his deputies.

[EuroMom]

04:09 PM on 11/28/2009

Thanks kinnycut ... it may be "legal" (in the US) but it's cruel and degrading beyond belief. And those who think a woman in labor is about to sprint out of the building, jog down the street and hop around the corner, popping the kid out on the way, and whizz along to the nearest train station are just plain deluded...

[kinnycut]

07:53 PM on 11/28/2009

I said technicall­y legal in so far as that fool Sheriff may not get into any trouble for doing this in his state, but that does not make what he has done here right at all. I am in agreement with your statement with regard to the treatment of this person in this case. As I said before that is why many people do not trust law enforcemen­t, and if a white native born American can see reasons to distrust the police then all those feelings are intensifie­d to staggering proportion­s if you are in a minority group, or even worse if you are an immigrant.

[randyjet]

05:41 PM on 11/27/2009

The FACT is that she was arrested and there were warrants out for her arrest. THAT is what happens when you violate the law. if she did not want to be arrested, she should have done what the rest of us do and obey the law. There is NO legal exemption for pregnant women and they do NOT have immunity from arrest.

The FACT is also that what she got was standard procedure for prisoners who are in the hospital outside of prison. She was NOT shackled with all legs and arms chained. What it involves is simply chaining to the bed with one hand. They do that for the safety of the staff and to make sure that she does NOT get up and leave or arm herself with knives and other objects that are common in hospitals.

it is HER fault for being there, unless you wish to negate all laws for pregnant women. I am appalled at the lies and venomous hatred for cops and law enforcemen­t people.

[goodwill2]

06:07 PM on 11/27/2009

Your lovely jackbooted cops are shackling pregnant women just because they're Mexican - what do you expect decent people to do, applaud you or something?

[randyjet]

08:50 PM on 11/27/2009

She was treated the same as ALL prisoners. YOU are a racist for thinking that Mexicans should be exempt from our laws and that they have superior rights.

[winningticket]

06:14 PM on 11/27/2009

You need to shut the h-e-l-l up. Last week I offered to buy a sherrif some coffee to show my appreciati­on for what they do. While I appreciate the work that law enforcemen­t (of good faith) do, I don't subscribe to your cult of police worship. You also lower the bar when you seem to think it's ok for law enforcemen­t to abuse pregnant women.

[DaveKernen]

03:59 PM on 11/27/2009

Undocument­ed workers? I believe the true title is illegal immigrants­.
If I drive without a license, am I just an undocument­ed driver?

[randyjet]

05:50 PM on 11/27/2009

Yes! A car thief is now called an undocument­ed car owner, a drug dealer is an undocument­ed pharmacist­, a counterfie­ter is a non-govern­mental money printer, etc.. Just THINK of all the euphamisms we can dream up for all kinds of crooks!

Sorry for calling them that. NOBODY is illegal. They are just misunderst­ood and should be forgiven since they ONLY want to help their families get ahead. So they should be given dignity as they steal jobs, property, and observe NO laws other than those they wish to observe.

[mikesw]

07:51 PM on 11/27/2009

In the US, it is the courts who determine if your migratory status in the US is illegal or not. Until they do, "undocumen­ted" is indeed the correct, legal term. If you don't like it, you can always move to Iran.

[seattle music]

03:29 AM on 11/28/2009

Why don't you move to Mexico?

You'll be very happy in a country where people enforce laws strictly based on the whims of whomever happens to be in power at any given moment, who bribed them last, who their daddy married, what village their from, etc.

Here, justice is blind, and even City Council members, Mayors and Police Chiefs of Latino heritage have to apply the rule of law equally to all citizens, including their cousins from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.

You see, in the United States of America, people from Central and South America are NOT and shall never be exempt from the rule of law.

[DaveKernen]

11:04 AM on 11/28/2009

Well if you immigrated to the U.S. and don't have "documents­" to show you are here legally, you are an illegal immigrant.

Plain and simple.
Documents = legal.
Undocument­ed = no documents = illegal.

Make up all the terms you want, it doesn't change the facts that an undocument­ed whatever came to the U.S. illegally.

[beyondliberal]

03:07 PM on 11/27/2009

What's all the fuss? Hospitals shackle comatose patients and those in persistent vegetative states every day; it's not just for alert prisoners. It's standard procedure.

[DaveKernen]

03:45 PM on 11/27/2009

HUH? Why would they need to shackle comatose patients or those in vegetative states? They aren't going anywhere anyway.

[TheHandyman]

04:01 PM on 11/27/2009

Well, they might think they are going to escape and if they are thinking then we have to make sure that they don't escape. We just can't have a lot of thinking people running around loose because it would be very, very dangerous. If too many people think then someone might realize that were aren't as free as we have been led to believe and that might lead to people demanding Democracy. Heaven for bid!

[yemaya]

07:15 PM on 11/28/2009

pulled that one out of his arse eh?

[wijg]

04:07 PM on 11/27/2009

I'm hoping you forgot your "snark" tag.

If not...

This shackled "alert prisoner" was giving birth... That's what all the fuss is about.