On June 25, 2009 the plaintiff, a former female prisoner, filed suit against the State of Washington, the Washington State Department of Corrections, the Washington Corrections Center for Women, and several correctional officers in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. She alleged violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and the Washington State Constitution. The suit arose from the treatment of her when she gave birth while incarcerated. She alleged that in violation of prison policy she had been shackled throughout labor and after she had given birth. She was only unshackled for an emergency cesarean section and was immediately shackled again after surgery. She sought declaratory relief, damages, and attorney's fees and costs for her great emotional and physical pain.

As the suit proceeded, all individually named defendants were dismissed with the exception of two correctional officers. The plaintiff indicated she would no longer seek declaratory relief against the State of Washington and acknowledged that the Eleventh Amendment precluded her from recovering damages against the state of any state agencies. On May 3, 2010 the court (Judge Robert Jensen Bryan) issued an order concerning cross-motions for summary judgment. The plaintiff's motion for summary judgment was denied, the officers' claim of qualified immunity was denied, and the defendants' motion for summary judgment was granted in part and denied in part. The case came to a close on May 7, 2010 when the court (Judge Bryan) entered a stipulated order dismissing all remaining claims against all defendants after the parties reached a settlement. The details of the settlement are not known.

Michael Perry - 04/16/2011


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