A settlement has been reached in a former Jackson County inmate's lawsuit accusing county employees of cruel and unusual punishment for shackling her while pregnant and transporting her to another prison on the day she gave birth.
The Kansas City Star reports that the American Civil Liberties Union helped Megon Riedel file the federal lawsuit. The ACLU said Tuesday that the settlement includes $50,000 in damages and written policies regarding the use of restraints for pregnant inmates.
Riedel says she was 39 weeks pregnant in 2012 when she was handcuffed, shackled and driven for more than three hours from the Jackson County Detention Center to a state prison in Vandalia.
Riedel says she was examined by a doctor when she arrived at the prison and then sent to a nearby hospital, where she delivered a boy that day.
