Letter to the editor: Did voters really want to ban hospital leg restraints on prisoners?
Here is what 308,784 voters saw on the November 2021 ballot, which banned the use of leg restraints in hospital emergency rooms: “Shall the Allegheny Code Chapter 205, Allegheny County Jail be amended and supplemented to include a new Article III which shall set forth standards governing conditions of confinement in the Allegheny County Jail.”
There was no mention of leg restraints. If this is all voters saw regarding the leg restraints issue, they had no idea what they were voting on.
A much smaller percentage of voters were shown the referendum petition to sign containing 1,047 words on solitary confinement and 17 words related to leg shackles. Voters were signing the petition to ban solitary confinement, not leg restraints on hospital runs.
Focus on the phrase “standards governing conditions in the Allegheny County Jail.” The ballot does not refer to hospital emergency rooms but to conditions in the jail. Experts in security recognize a drastic difference between the risks of escape in hospital emergency rooms compared to a county jail.
Our County Home Rule Charter after two years wisely gives the authority to County Council to provide oversight of the referendum using what is called an agenda initiative. This year, there were three attempted hospital escapes in hospital emergency rooms where the individual had to be tackled on the hospital floor in the presence of the public. Were voters aware of this danger in November 2021?
John Kenstowicz
Morningside
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