The State - News from Dec. 31, 1986

In response to complaints by the San Jose chapter of the National Organization for Women, Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies have stopped placing handcuffs and leg shackles on women prisoners in courtrooms. NOW complained that the Sheriff’s Department practice of handcuffing and shackling female prisoners, but not male prisoners, was “a particularly egregious example of sex discrimination.” The controversy focused on Department 6 of San Jose’s Municipal Court, where male prisoners are taken into the courtroom from an adjacent holding cell, which officials say makes security easier. Female prisoners, however, are taken from Milpitas and enter the courtroom in groups of roughly 12 to 15 prisoners at a time, making security more difficult. Under the new policy, the women will be unshackled when they reach the courtroom. Only high-risk prisoners will remain handcuffed.