A Texas advocacy group tapped by the federal government to track the state’s jail conditions has been unable to access a facility that tied a suicidal man to a chair for 18 hours instead of getting him the mental health care he needed. Records accessed by Disability Rights Texas (DRT) show that a prisoner in Victoria County reported he was suicidal last August. In lieu of sending him to a mental health professional or hospital, jail staff stripped off his clothes and restrained him to a chair for nearly 20 consecutive hours. The detainee told the disability rights organization that he was denied medication and “forced to urinate and defecate on himself.” According to the records, jail staff didn’t conduct regular check-ins or provide the detainee with water.
DRT, which is federally mandated to investigate abuse claims, has reportedly received multiple letters from prisoners’ relatives alleging other detainees have been denied prescribed mental health medication as well. The organization has subsequently tried to get into the jail to inspect conditions and follow up on the complaints. But the sheriff’s office, which gave the restrained detainee’s jail records to DRT has barred a representative from entering the facility.
The watchdog group recently filed a lawsuit to gain access to the jail, on the grounds that it has authority to conduct a thorough investigation.
The Death Of Victoria Gray: How Texas Jails Are Failing Their Most Vulnerable CaptivesJustice by CREDIT: Family photo If a reporter asks John Gray to do an in-person interview, he insists that the backdrop…thinkprogress.orgTexas’ failure to screen and treat suicidal inmates gained national attention in the wake of Sandra Bland’s death last July. Two inmates committed suicide in the Victoria County jail, but 135 others doing time in Texas jails have killed themselves since 2010. Often, they used trash bags, sheets, and telephone chords to hang themselves.
State law requires jail employees to conduct mental health screenings when a person is detained, conduct regular check-ins of suicidal prisoners, and alert judges that a suicidal inmate is in custody. A ThinkProgress investigation concluded that 62 Texas jails were negligent in conducting proper screenings and observing inmates, between 2010 and 2015. In many cases, prisoners who committed suicide reported serious mental illness or previous suicide attempts, yet they weren’t monitored closely.