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Last Thursday, after a federal district court decided in favor of a mother who was shackled by police authorities during labor, the jury handed her an award for $200,000. According to the district judge, Juana Villegas, 35, an illegal immigrant in Nashville, Tennessee, had her constitutional rights stripped when police forces showed "indifference to her medical needs."
Ms. Villegas, from Guerrero, Mexico, lost her appeal to remain in the US, although her lawyer is currently exploring further avenues. She was arrested in July 2008 for a minor traffic violation -- a charge police later dropped. According to Villegas, her wrists and ankles were shackled as she was being transported to the hospital during labor. She was afraid to give birth in the ambulance and was unaware that a deputy with the ability to unchain her was riding alongside.
Just before delivery, she was unchained, the birth went without complication, and she was shackled thereafter. She was also not allowed to use a breast pump, "causing her pain and illness."
A psychiatrist testified that Villegas's shackling had triggered post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder and phobia, which will lead to years of therapy. She asked for $1.2 million under the circumstances, and received one sixth of that.
The city made the case that Villegas's anguish was attributable more to the threat of deportation than to the shackling. Unfortunately for them, the jurors could not know about her illegal status. City officials plan to appeal because the department's actions were "accepted practice at the time.
If you would like more information about how medical malpractice and accident cases work in the state of New York, I encourage you to explore my educational website. If you have legal questions, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at lawmed10@yahoo.com to answer your questions. That's what I do every day. I welcome your call.
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