Aggregated News
Cynthia Chandler, co-founder of the Oakland, California-based prisoner rights group Justice Now, is not usually short on words. But the news was big and the journey long.
Late Thursday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill banning sterilization as a form of birth control for the state’s female prisoners. The sweeping ban covers county jails, state prisons and other detention centers, providing safeguards against medical abuses that have plagued the state for decades.
“What a relief,” said Chandler, who’s also an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of Law. “Now there can be some hope that California can move forward from its history. It’s about time.”
SB 1135 came in response to The Center of Investigative Reporting’s disclosure in July 2013 that more than 130 female inmates had received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules from 2006 to 2010.
The new law covers all surgeries on prison inmates that destroy reproductive capacity, including tubal ligations and hysterectomies. In life-threatening situations, it mandates that inmates first receive extensive counseling from independent physicians. The law adds a layer...