CHICAGO – A federal lawsuit has been filed by a former Cook County Jail inmate who alleges she was shackled to a bed while giving birth last year at Illinois' Stroger Hospital.
Marilu Morales was eight months pregnant in April 2008 when she was jailed for reasons not made clear in the lawsuit, filed Thursday.
According to the lawsuit, Morales was taken to Stroger Hospital when she went into labor. At the hospital, a sheriff's deputy shackled a hand and a foot to a bed.
The shackles were removed at the order of a physician shortly before she gave birth. The lawsuit claims the shackles were put back on after the baby was born.
Attorney Kenneth Flaxman claims state law prohibits the practice. A Cook County sheriff's department spokesman refused to comment because he hadn't seen the lawsuit.
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Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com
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