Inmate Who Was Pregnant Settles Suit Over Stop at Starbucks en Route to a Hospital - The New York Times
Sandra Quinones, six months pregnant, was at a jail in Orange County, Calif., when her water broke in March 2016, according to court records.
She pushed the call button in her cell for two hours without a response, and when county employees finally did take her to a hospital, they stopped at a Starbucks along the way, her lawyer said in a federal lawsuit. She lost the pregnancy, according to court records.
On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in a closed session to pay Ms. Quinones $480,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit she had filed in federal court that claimed denial of medical care, negligent treatment and other violations.
An Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman declined to comment about the lawsuit or the settlement. Phone and email messages left for the board chairman and a lawyer representing the county were not immediately returned on Sunday.
When she went into labor, Ms. Quinones was in the middle of serving 70 days in jail after she was arrested in Buena Park for possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance for sales, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
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