Immigration Law Section

The case of a pregnant Nashville inmate who was shackled during labor is headed back to district court to be heard by a jury after a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that summary judgment granted in the case was inappropriate because there were disputed facts that needed to be decided by a jury. While the appeals court found that “shackling of pregnant detainees while in labor” violates the Constitution’s prohibition against “unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain,” it said there are exceptions when a prisoner poses a danger or a flight risk. The court concluded that determining whether Juana Villegas posed a flight risk should have been decided by a jury not by a judge, Knoxnews reports.