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| British Judge Criticizes Jail for Separating Inmate from Her Baby |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 01/27/2003 |
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A five-month-old infant had its human rights violated when it was separated from its inmate mother by prison authorities, a British judge has ruled. High Court judge Maurice Kay said prison officers had not considered the best interests of the baby - identified only as AD - when it was taken from its mother, a 19-year-old inmate identified as CD. 'I find the decision to be substantially flawed as it involved breaches of AD's - and perhaps to a lower extent CD's - right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights,' Kay said in a judgment issued Thursday. The woman gave birth to the baby in the maternity unit of Styal prison in northwestern England last April. Mother and child were separated when CD was evicted from the prison's mother-and-baby wing after allegations of unruly behavior. The baby is now being cared for by a family friend outside the prison, the judge said. Kay ordered officials to reconsider the case, and said prisons should take the issue of separating mothers from their babies more seriously. 'Perhaps the most startling thing about this case is that there are no prescribed procedures governing a decision to exclude and separate in these circumstances, notwithstanding the magnitude of such a decision,' Kay said. 'I very much hope that the Prison Service will devise a procedure to be applied in all prison mother-and-baby units.' |
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