On Fri night, Brooklyn court staff forced a woman to give birth inside the courtroom. Per public defenders, she gave birth in handcuffs, unable to reposition herself, unable to pick up her infant. The men who’d shackled her looked on. The judge lauded the birth of a ‘beautiful baby’ on the record.

Now: About 100 rank and file Legal Aid Society attorneys and allies are rallying outside Brooklyn Criminal Court after a woman was forced to give birth in arraignment. They’re discussing other instances of clients dying in custody & harsher punishments for NYC’s poor.