A woman awaiting arraignment on low-level drug charges gave birth to a healthy baby boy inside Brooklyn Criminal Court shortly before midnight. Her water broke while she was seated on a bench, and the judge cleared the courtroom as officers rushed to help her. Public defender organizations condemned her treatment, saying she was forced to give birth while restrained and denied basic medical care and human dignity. They demanded an investigation and criticized the carceral system. They also alleged courtroom staff joked during the incident, increasing humiliation. Her lawyer said she was not handcuffed or shackled during the birth.
"“No person should ever be forced to give birth in handcuffs or endure labor while restrained, exposed, and denied basic medical care and human dignity. What occurred in that courtroom was not simply a failure of protocol or preparedness. It was a profound moral failure and a devastating reflection of the cruelty embedded in our carceral system,” the statement from the Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, New York County Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, and Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem said."
"“A child entered the world in a courtroom while their mother was in chains,” the group said. According to the statement legal proceedings continued and courtroom staff could be heard joking about the incident while it happened, adding to Randazzo's humiliation and dehumanization."
"“The baby came really quickly,” Randazzo's lawyer, Wynton Sharpe, told the Daily News. “It was a happy and sad situation given the circumstances. It definitely changed the whole energy of the courtroom.” Randazzo was sitting on a bench in the courtroom, awaiting to be arraigned, when her water broke."
"“People were suggesting she was” Randazzo's lawyer denied that his client was handcuffed or shackled as she gave birth."
Read at New York Daily News
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