Partner Andy Freeman, along with co-counsel, has filed suit on behalf of a woman who was left to deliver her baby alone, with no medical care or assistance of any kind, on the filthy, cold, cement floor of a jail cell in the Washington County, Maryland, Detention Center.
As covered by numerous outlets – including the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, U.S. News, AP News, Maryland Daily Record, and more – Jazmin Valentine gave birth to a baby girl on July 4, 2021, shortly after midnight. What should have been one of the happiest events of her life was instead a night of terror, pain, and humiliation after officials cruelly ignored her screams and chose their own convenience over compassion and care.
Multiple nurses from private contract medical provider PrimeCare, Inc. and Washington County jail staff knew Ms. Valentine was approaching her due date, and she had been in active labor for hours, loudly screaming and begging for help. Instead of ensuring that Ms. Valentine was able to give birth in a safe and sanitary medical setting, PrimeCare nurses responsible for medical services for inmates, as well as the County’s sheriff’s deputies who ran the detention center, callously left her to labor alone for hours and to give birth alone in a dirty jail cell without any medical care.
Once the baby arrived, medical staff at the jail were totally unequipped to care for her, and she caught a type of antibiotic-resistant staph infection due to the unsanitary conditions. The conscience-shocking indifference and conduct by Washington County Sheriff’s deputies and PrimeCare Medical, Inc. nurses violated Ms. Valentine’s and her baby’s constitutional rights.
“It’s hard to believe that any human being would ignore the screams of a woman in labor and leave her to deliver her own baby alone on a filthy, cold, hard jail cell floor,” said Andy Freeman, who added, “When a county hands over medical care in its jails to a private provider, both the county and the private provider must be held accountable for a failure to provide adequate care.”
ABOUT ANDY FREEMAN
Andy Freeman is known for obtaining justice for his clients. He has won numerous verdicts, judgments, and settlements of millions, tens of millions, and in one case, over a billion dollars by mastering the relevant law and getting to know his clients, their problems, and the evidence in their cases. Other lawyers bring Andy cases that present complicated combinations of law and facts or that require making new law.
PLEASE FIND NEWS COVERAGE BELOW
“Atty. representing woman who gave birth alone in a jail cell: ‘One of the most inhumane cases in my career’” | Maryland Matters (October 4, 2022)
“Lawsuit says woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor” | The Washington Post (September 27, 2022)
“Lawsuit says woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor: ‘I felt like I was in the hands of the devil, honestly’” | The Baltimore Sun (September 27, 2022)
“Lawsuit Says Woman Gave Birth Alone on Maryland Jail Floor” | U.S. News & World Report (September 27, 2022)
“Lawsuit says woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor” | AP News (September 27, 2022)
“Woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor, lawsuit says” | The Daily Record (September 27, 2022)
“Woman who gave birth alone on floor of a Maryland jail says her screams were ignored by staff” | Sky News (September 28, 2022)
“Mother forced to give birth in filthy Maryland jail cell as nurses laughed at her, lawsuit claims” | The Independent (September 29, 2022)
“Lawsuit says woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor” | NBC News (September 28, 2022)
“Woman was left to give birth alone on Maryland jail cell floor and ignored for 6 hours by nurses, lawsuit says” | CBS News (September 28, 2022)
“Lawsuit claims Boonsboro woman forced to give birth in Washington County jail alone” | The Herald-Mail (September 28, 2022)
“Woman gives birth alone in dirty jail cell as nurses ignore her screams, lawsuit says” | Centre Daily Times (September 29, 2022)
“Woman gives birth alone in dirty jail cell as nurses ignore her screams, lawsuit says” | Miami Herald (September 29, 2022)
“Ex-inmate forced to give birth on dirty floor, slid amniotic sac under door: suit” | NYPost (September 29, 2022)
“Woman gives birth alone in dirty jail cell as nurses ignore her screams, lawsuit says” | The News & Observer (September 29, 2022)
“Woman forced to give birth alone in unsanitary jail cell, lawsuit alleges” | Metro UK (September 28, 2022)
“Lawsuit Says Woman Gave Birth Alone on Maryland Jail Floor” | WMAL (September 28, 2022)
“Woman Left to Give Birth Alone on Maryland Dirty Jail Floor, Lawsuit Alleges” | NBC Washington (September 28, 2022)
“Lawsuit says Woman Gave Birth Alone on Maryland Jail Floor” | WBOC (September 28, 2022)
“Woman gives birth alone on dirty, concrete floor of her jail cell, lawsuit says” | WJLA (September 28, 2022)
“Woman gives birth alone on dirty, concrete floor of her jail cell, lawsuit says” | CBS Austin (September 28, 2022)
“Lawsuit says woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor” | The Frederick News-Post (September 28, 2022)
“Lawsuit alleges woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor” | The Washington Times (September 27, 2022)
“Lawsuit says woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor” | WTOP (September 27, 2022)
“Woman gave birth alone on Maryland jail floor, lawsuit says” | WGN9 (September 27, 2022)
“Lawsuit says woman gave birth alone on jail floor in Western Maryland” | Fox Baltimore (September 27, 2022)