News & Commentary

By Johanna Kaiser, Communications & Development Associate

Despite decades of progress toward gender equality, in Rhode Island today gender-exclusive student events that are specifically held for girls or boys with the active support of elementary schools help to perpetuate blatant gender stereotypes. Almost invariably, the girls’ events, organized by parent-teacher groups and publicized by the schools, are dances, with another gender-stereotyped event, like a pajama party, occasionally taking their place. By contrast, and just as invariably, the events arranged for boys involve almost anything but dancing, are wide-ranging, and focus on purportedly male-friendly activities like sports and arcade games.

The Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, RI NOW, and the ACLU of Rhode Island issued the following statement in response to Governor Lincoln Chafee’s decision today not to veto a bill that authorizes public school districts to provide sex-segregated extracurricular activities of any kind:

The following statement was issued today by the ACLU of RI in response to the Cranston sex discrimination controversy. The issue arose when a local parent-teacher organization, with initial support from the school, organized a “father-daughter dance” for girls attending the school, and a “mother-son” outing to a Pawtucket Red Sox baseball game for the boys:

The Rhode Island ACLU today applauded the Department of Corrections (DOC) for adopting suggestions to strengthen proposed rules that will govern the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners. These new regulations, based on ACLU-drafted legislation passed last June, generally prohibit the use of handcuffs, shackles, and waist restraints on a pregnant inmate during transport, labor, delivery, and recovery.  They also allow only  “medically appropriate” restraints to be used during the second and third trimester of an inmate’s pregnancy.  Most importantly, the changes adopted by the DOC make important clarifications regarding what restraints are appropriate during each stage of an inmate’s pregnancy and where information about the procedures should be made available to staff and inmates. These changes strengthen what is one of the strongest laws in the country protecting pregnant inmates.

Today the Rhode Island ACLU and seven other organizations have submitted testimony to the Department of Corrections in response to proposed regulations that will implement Rhode Island's new anti-shackling law that the General Assembly approved in June. The law, one of the strongest in the country, was drafted by the Affiliate and generally bars the use of handcuffs or shackles on pregnant incarcerated women.  Among other things, the testimony calls for clarification on the new rules for labor, delivery and recovery and for “medically appropriate” restraints.

The ACLU commends Governor Lincoln Chafee’s signing into law a bill restricting the shackling of pregnant prisoners.  The law generally bars the restraint of pregnant incarcerated women by handcuffs, shackles, and waist restraints during transport, labor, delivery, and recovery, and allows only “medically appropriate” restraints to be used during the second and third trimester of an inmate’s pregnancy. This legislation, which does permit corrections’ officials to use the least restrictive restraints necessary for individuals perceived as a security risk, will protect women and their children from any unnecessary harm during and after childbirth.

The ACLU applauds yesterday’s House passage of legislation restricting the shackling of pregnant prisoners. The bill, supported by the ACLU, the RI State Nurses Association, the RI Medical Society, RI NOW, DARE and other groups is sponsored by Rep. Donna Walsh. It generally bars the restraint of pregnant incarcerated women by handcuffs, shackles, and waist restraints during transport, labor, delivery, and recovery, and allows only “medically appropriate” restraints to be used during the second and third trimester of an inmate’s pregnancy. 

Having received dozens of pages of documents as the result of an open records lawsuit filed in February, the Rhode Island ACLU and the R.I. Chapter of the National Organization for Women said today that Rhode Island needs to join eight other states by passing legislation next year to restrict the Department of Correction’s ability to shackle pregnant inmates in its custody.