As reported in Grits for Breakfast, a federal jury ordered Dallas County to pay $900,000 to the family of man who died while in custody at the Dallas County Jail. It wasn't the first time Dallas County has had to pay for its failure to provide medical care for its inmates. In February 2007, the county paid $950,000 to the families of three mentally-ill inmates who died as a result of the jail's negligence.Dallas-area criminal defense attorney Robert Guest adds that the Dallas County Jail is one of the most dangerous jails in Texas.
Yet we insist on locking up those citizens arrested for possessing negligible amounts of marijuana and crack cocaine. That may change when the new Harris County DA takes office next year as both candidates have expressed a desire to change the way in Harris County deals with citizens accused of petty offenses.
C.O. Bradford promised to use personal bonds to keep minor offenders out of the Harris County Jail while Pat Lykos has proposed a series of single room occupancy facilities in which the mentally ill and addicts could be sent and still receive treatment while their cases are pending.
The question remains whether or not any other elected officials will vote to pony up the money to fund a new initiative.
