Crime & Courts

Alaska prisoners sue state over practice of shackling pretrial inmates together in groups

A group of inmates is suing the state to stop the practice of hauling criminal defendants into courtrooms shackled together in a "human chain," saying it violates the U.S. Constitution.

Such lines of prisoners, with suspects cuffed wrist-to-wrist and herded in groups, are often called "cattle calls," according to their lawsuit, filed last week in federal district court in Anchorage.

The practice violates the constitutional rights of pretrial detainees, says the lawsuit, filed by Ember Tilton, an Anchorage defense attorney.

Tilton had previously practiced in Vermont, where defendants in custody could go without handcuffs during court proceedings, if it had been determined they did not present a danger to the court, he said Friday. He said he was horrified after he began practicing in Alaska two years ago, and saw inmates shuffled into courtrooms in locked groups during pretrial proceedings.

Tilton decided to pursue the lawsuit after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit decided in May that a presumptively innocent defendant should be "treated with respect and dignity in a public courtroom, not like a bear on a chain."

Suing the state are Jason McAnulty and Toby Spece, two men with criminal records who are currently in state custody, Tilton said. They are joined by Alaska Pretrial Detainees for the End of Unwarranted Courtroom Shackling, a group of more than 30 detainees with pending criminal charges that Tilton helped.

The lawsuit names Walt Monegan, Alaska Public Safety commissioner and Christine Johnson, administrative director of Alaska's court system.

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The Department of Public Safety and Alaska Court System are not commenting on the case because they are parties to it, spokespeople with the agencies said.

The state has refused to change its shackling policy, the lawsuit says. But the federal court system in Alaska on Oct. 1 revised its restraint procedures following the appellant court's decision, Tilton points out.

The new federal system will allow for judges to determine "the least restrictive means of maintaining security and order in the courtroom," said Timothy Burgess, chief judge for the U.S District Court in Alaska.

A presiding judge will take advice from U.S. marshals and probation services to determine when a defendant can safely appear in court without shackles, Burgess said in a Sept. 29 memorandum to agencies involved in federal court proceedings.

Burgess said the appellant court's decision found that courts cannot have a blanket policy that all defendants in custody must be restrained during proceedings.

Detainess such as McAnulty, Spece and others in the group have experienced "discomfort and humiliation" and pain when wrists are jerked when another man moves, the lawsuit says.

In different hearings in July, McAnulty and Spece had asked judges for permission to remove the handcuffs, but weren't allowed, the lawsuit says.

The inmates' due process rights are being violated because they're not being given an opportunity to be heard before they are deprived of their liberty, the lawsuit says. It also asserts that those rights require a "factual, individualized" finding that handcuffs are needed to maintain an orderly courtroom.

The group shackling is an "unconstitutional instrument of government oppression serving no legitimate state interest," the lawsuit says.

Alex DeMarban

Alex DeMarban is a longtime Alaska journalist who covers business, the oil and gas industries and general assignments. Reach him at 907-257-4317 or alex@adn.com.

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