Diabetic inmate dies after jail staff failed to provide insulin

This tragic episode will likely cost the city of Irving a pretty penny. The Dallas News story ("Irving jail staff new diabetic inmate had no insulin before death," Dec. 9) opened:

Irving jail staff knew that a diabetic inmate needed insulin hours, if not days, before she collapsed in her cell and died.

Two jail supervisors have been placed on paid leave while the city and district attorney’s office investigate the Nov. 3 death of Sarah Tibbetts, 37.

The medical examiner has not yet ruled on the cause of death. Nor have police responded to accounts from family and jail sources that Tibbetts, who took insulin daily to survive, did not get any during nearly 42 hours in custody.

A grocery store baker before her life began to fall apart several years ago, Tibbetts often lived out of motel rooms and recently lost her 12-year-old son to child services, according to her family.

The only convictions on her record were misdemeanors; trespassing and drug possession last year. But Irving police had arrested her several times before they found her Nov. 1 in a motel room — allegedly with someone else’s credit card and traces of marijuana on baggies in her purse.

Family said that Tibbetts’ arrests usually ended with a minor charge being dropped and a trip to the hospital for insulin, which she either left behind or wasn’t allowed to use because it was improperly labeled.

But this time, something went wrong.

Jail staff knew the woman needed insulin because her mother told them:

Rebecca Tibbetts, Sarah’s mother, said staff phoned her a day after the motel arrest and asked her to bring the medicine to jail.

“I said I’m in California. I can’t bring it up,” said Rebecca Tibbetts, who lives in that state. “I said my daughter is insulin-dependent and she will die without her insulin. If you can’t provide it, she needs to be sent to a hospital.”

Her boyfriend, in a jail cell across the corridor from her, watched Tibbetts slip into a diabetic coma then “Screamed bloody murder until [the guards] finally got up.” Reported the News, "Later that day, Rebecca Tibbetts got another call from the jail and learned her daughter was dead." Further, "A jail employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that staff knew Tibbetts needed insulin before her death." Authorities say they're investigating and have yet to publicly comment.

H/T: Texas Monthly.

Strip searching in jail overkill for minor traffic violations

Last year the US Supreme Court okayed jails strip searching defendants upon entry, even for minor offenses. CBS-11 out of Dallas reported last week on a case in Richland Hills where a driver was arrested by the city marshal for an unpaid ticket from August (rolling through a stop sign), during which she was forced to disrobe at the jail. Reported the TV station:

[Sarah] Boaz’ expected trip to work Wednesday morning never happened. Because of her unpaid ticket, the Richland Hills City Marshal was waiting at her house with a warrant for her arrest. “I’m like, nobody puts out a bench warrant after 60 days. Why would you do that? You wouldn’t do that.”

Even when Boaz arrived at the jail, in handcuffs, she still didn’t think it was real. Then a female officer started giving her instructions. She remembered the officer saying, “’I’m going to need you to undress. I’m going to need you to stand against the wall. Please don’t step in front of this white box, or I’ll take that [as]… aggressive toward me. Obviously I am going to jail.”

CBS 11 News learned being stripped down is standard procedure for anyone brought to the jail in North Richland Hills. In an email to CBS 11 News Friday morning, the North Richland Hills Police Department said though Boaz was forced to undress, the search is not considered a strip search. In that email they said, “She was given a dress out. Before they go into the cell they are taken by a detention officer of the same sex to a private room with no cameras. They have to remove all clothing and they are given a jumpsuit. The officer searches their clothes, at no time does the officer touch them.”

Richland Hills is small enough that it only has one marshal. Warrants for unpaid tickets don’t sit around for months, like they might in larger cities.

Attorney Jason Smith told CBS 11 News though, there’s nothing requiring the city to put people in jail. “The constitution doesn’t keep the government or government officials from using common sense. Unfortunately, some police officers, some governments get overly aggressive because they want that ticket revenue.”

Ms. Boaz may perhaps be forgiven for failing to see the distinction between being forced to strip in the jail and a "strip search." The Supreme Court's ruling last year left the decision to strip search jailed defendants up to the discretion of localities, but the decision leaves no recourse when that discretion is abused. Putting drivers through that ordeal for failure to pay small-time traffic fines seems like overkill.

Another question comes to mind: Is it a good or bad thing that the room where strip searches are performed had no camera? Eliminating cameras there might prevent voyeurism on the part of other jailers, but it also means any potential abuses during the process wouldn't be documented. What do readers think?

Just don't call it a "jail"

Harris County and City of Houston officials learned in 2007 that voters don't want an expanded jail, so this year they're calling it something else. According to coverage from The Bond Buyer (Sept. 30):

Houston Mayor Annise Parker said the ballot proposal is “fundamentally different than what was asked a few years ago, which was about adding onto the county jail. This is a joint city-county project, and the public really appreciates the fact that the city and county are working together closely.”

At this point, likely voters appear to favor the inmate processing center, according to recent polls.

“Maybe it’s because we called it a joint inmate processing center as opposed to a jail, but that’s what’s on the ballot,” said Rice University Political Science professor Bob Stein.  “And more importantly, voters support this regardless of their perception of crime.”

Stein conducted polling for Houston stations KHOU and KHUF that showed 58% of respondents in favor of building the processing center, with 21% opposed.

The 2007 proposal for the jail and processing center was defeated, largely because African-Americans voted overwhelmingly against the measure, according to analysis of those results.

“In 2013, although 58% and by margins of 64 and 61 (percent) Anglos and Hispanics support this proposed initiative, African Americans oppose it slightly, 51-49,” Stein said.  “But I think a 58% margin is good; more importantly, there are no organized groups against this. So I think, the stars are aligned for this to pass and pass by a good margin.”

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia told KHOU the center would “take the City of Houston out of the jail business, quit the duplication of operations, save the taxpayers money and get cops back out on the street faster.”

The inmate processing center is one of the lower profile issues on the Nov. 5 ballot that will include the election of the Houston mayor and city council. The Houston city elections are likely to bring out more voters from within the city limits than will vote in the suburbs, officials said.

Grits has fewer reservations about the Harris County Jail expansion bonds on the November ballot than I did the 2007 bonds that Houston voters rejected. The Harris jail's overcrowding problem stems from poor decision making by judges more than a lack of capacity, but the jail's booking center does need revamping and I don't mind combining the city and county jail facilities, so long as the city cells actually close.

Still, avoiding the term "jail" on the ballot for jail bonds speaks volumes. Likely somebody polled the terms and figured out the public didn't support expanding the jail but does support processing inmates quicker, as do I. Grits just believes that goal would be better served by reducing pretrial detention, and the only option voters have for achieving that goal at the ballot box would be electing different judges.

MORE: See a Houston Chronicle editorial supporting the bonds.

Jail politics and the purported decline of 'apostrophe laws'

Here are a few tidbits which haven't made it into individual posts but may interest Grits readers:

Fort Worth jail costs skyrocket from incarcerating Class C misdemeanants
Here's an absolutely superb story from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on a dispute between Fort Worth and Tarrant County over housing Class C traffic ticket violators. Tarrant won't do it so Fort Worth entered into a rather squirrelly contract with Mansfield for which they're massively overpaying to house Class C offenders. Unlike most jurisdictions, Fort Worth does not cut deals to reduce fines and sends people to jail until either they can pay or their jail credits cover the debt. Critics including the Tarrant County Sheriff say that amounts to operating a "debtor's prison."  Give it a read, there aren't too many reporters in the state with enough understanding of the system to pull off this story. Yamil Berard is one of them.

Jail health privatization
Navarro County is considering privatizing health care services at its county jail.

New jail suggestion rejected
Commissioners in Rockwall County rejected a study designed to prepare them for jail expansion.

Welcome to SA, prepare to be blamed
The Bexar County Jail just got a new jail administrator. That's a more political job these days in San Antonio than in most counties because of disputes between the Sheriff and Commissioners Court over staffing. He's got his work cut out for him.

Cite-and-summons process needs mechanism to improve court-appearance rate
Travis County's cite-and-summons program for low-level misdemeanors (authorized by the Lege in 2007 to ease jail overcrowding) has a high no-show rate, the Austin Statesman reported. IMO this is in part because no infrastructure is in place to remind people of court dates, etc., the way pretrial services does with defendants given personal bonds. The rate will never get to zero but with a little forethought and effort it could be dramatically lowered from where it is now. By contrast, Sheriff Gary Painter in Midland effusively praised the program and said they haven't seen similar problems.

Governor signs TX warrants for email bill
After Gov. Perry signed Texas' warrants for email bill it received some nice coverage from Ars Technica and Law360.com. I had breakfast this morning with Greg Nojeim from the Center for Democracy and Technology who said he expects similar federal legislation to pass the US Senate but fears for its prospects in the House of Representatives.

Montana requires warrants for cell-phone location data
Montana's governor has signed legislation requiring warrants for law enforcement to acquire cell-phone location data. Readers will recall the legislatures in Missouri and Maine passed similar legislation, but Montana's governor beat them to the punch in signing it, making them the first state to finally pass such a law. Go here for detailed information about the MT bill.

Public doesn't trust fed snooping
A new poll found that 57% of the public fears the NSA uber-database on phone records will be used for political purposes unrelated to national security. That's an unsurprising and perhaps even a realistic assessment. After all, the database isn't assisting terrorism investigations, which makes one wonder if it exists for some different, perhaps less noble purpose. Polling on the NSA phone spying scandal has been all over the map but given the Obama Administration's recent record regarding journalists' privileges and the use of the IRS to target political opponents, I can't say I blame the public for being skeptical.

Are 'apostrophe laws' really on the decline?
I'm not sure I believe this but USA Today reported that so-called "apostrophe laws" - typically enhancements named after dead children, driven by grieving parents - are receiving a cooler reception among state-level lawmakers this year. That may be because many are bad public policy or, as the article suggests, they may have just run out of low-hanging fruit. We still see a lot of this in Texas, though, I'm not sure the trend described has yet migrated across the Red River. And though the article focuses on penalty enhancements, in Texas the concept cuts both ways - the "Michael Morton Act," the creation of the "Timothy Cole Advisory Panel," and the Tulia legislation were all good examples of reform legislation passed in response to a particular injustice. Ideally government shouldn't make public policy based on individual anecdote, but that's the political reality we live in for good or ill.

Hays County 'moveable jail' looking to settle down

Here's a bit of Texas carceral history I was unaware of; reports the Hays County Free Press:

The Hays County Jail’s Moveable Jail Cell in San Marcos is one of nine sites that a statewide preservation group has named to its ninth annual list of Texas’ Most Endangered Historic Places.

The moveable jail cell was constructed for the Hays County Jail in Kyle and, today, it is a rarity of its kind. The cells were referred to as a “calaboose,” the Spanish word for jail, and were constructed using the cribbing method where the walls are arranged in sets of logs or timber in a log-style cabin formation to create a rising rectangle or square.

The jail cell remained in use until 1925 as Kyle’s city jail and, later, was moved to the Texana Village at Aquarena Springs. Due to lack of funding, the jail cell along with other buildings and artifacts were removed from the Village. At the eleventh hour, the jail cell was saved and moved to its current location at the San Marcos Academy.

The jail cell is a valuable piece of Hays County history but for generations it has been shuffled around the county. It needs a permanent home where it can be restored and appreciated, Preservation Texas argues. Local advocates are working to raise funds and to increase public support to preserve the moveable jail cell in order to tell a broader story of the county’s history.

Here's a picture of Hays County's two-man "moveable jail":

Looks like it could be mistaken for a deluxe outhouse! The story says "calaboose" is the "Spanish word for jail," but to clarify, "jail" in Spanish is typically "cárcel," while "calabozo" has more the dark, dank implications of the English "dungeon." Sitting out in the sun during a hot Texas summer, though, this structure would have felt more like some sadistic, claustrophobic sweat lodge.

Is there a place in the modern world for a moveable jail? What functions did mobility fulfill (work crews, perhaps?) that a stand-alone structure wouldn't? Or was it just the case that until 1925, Kyle didn't need more than that?

You can see the idea might be taken to an extreme, if perhaps in the realm of fiction. In my mind's eye I imagine prisons designed as mobile pods with prison transfers accomplished by cranes picking up whole sections filled with inmates and stacking them on trains like boxcars. Or then, perhaps I shouldn't give TDCJ any ideas!

A moveable jail ... who'da thunk?

The legacy of Otis Campbell and Houston's proposed 'sobering center'

Following up on a suggestion from Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos, Houston officials plan to create a "sobering center," reports the Houston Chronicle's Chris Moran ("Houston plans 'sobering center' at shelter instead of jail," Feb. 29), where police can take drunks instead of booking them into jail. The story opens:

City officials plan to open a "sobering center" at the Star of Hope Mission downtown later this year. It would be an 84-bed facility that would allow people whose only offense is being drunk to bypass jail.

Houston police arrest 19,000 people a year for public intoxication, racking up $4 million to $6 million in jail costs. A sobering center aims to divert drunks from jail and free up cells for more dangerous offenders. Dropping off a person at the center, instead of booking him into jail, also would let officers to return to patrol more quickly.

A person brought to the sobering center would have to stay at least four hours, until he sobers up, and would not have an arrest put on his record.

"Jail should be for violent people that we need to get off the street," not a place to merely sober up, said Councilman Ed Gonzalez, a former city police officer who has championed the sobering center idea.

The center also may do a better job than jail at addressing chronic substance abusers, Gonzalez said.

"I don't think jail is a deterrent" to chronic abuse, he said. "They consume or abuse because they have abuse issues. Punishment isn't a substantial stick anymore."

In a statement, Mayor Annise Parker declared that "Incarcerating individuals whose only criminal behavior is public intoxication diverts law enforcement from more serious or life-threatening crimes," adding that "Sobering centers in other cities have proven to be time savers for patrol officers, allowing them to quickly return to their assigned duties to deal with more serious crimes."

When Lykos first suggested the idea, Grits quipped that "In my mind's eye, I think they should call it the Otis Campbell Detox Center," comparing the tactic to "giving Mayberry's town drunk a safe place to dry out."

Every effort to divert low-level cases from the justice system is a worthy experiment, in this writer's view, but it remains to be seen how well the idea works in practice, whether HPD uses it, not to mention what criteria will be used to decide that the "sobering center" is more appropriate than the jail. For homeless frequent flyers in particular I can see it becoming a tremendous boon. And it's good to see city leaders spending on diversion programs first instead of automatically sinking more money into the city jail. According to Moran, "The city stands to save millions a year if it can offload a substantial portion of its public drunkenness cases to a facility where the detainees do not have to be fed nor as closely monitored as they would be in jail."

Kuff points to a press release on the topic, adding that "The city jails, and ways to reduce costs on them, were a subject of the Mayor’s inaugural speech." More from Hair Balls.