Last summer in Texas, a young woman was stopped for failing to signal a lane change, brutally arrested, and thrown in jail. Three days later, she was dead, officially by her own hand.
That young woman, Sandra Bland, was 28 and had just been offered a job at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University.
On Thursday, her family and the state of Texas settled a $1.9 million wrongful death civil suit. Due to Texas law, the state’s share of the suit is capped at $100,000. The Waller County jail, where she died, will pay the remainder, $1.8 million.
However, the County’s insurance company is the organization on the hook. Reportedly, the County will have to pay only $1,000 in a deductible. The settlement has yet to be approved by the Waller County Commissioner Court.
I don’t even want to think about how long it will take for the insurance company to cough up the money. But the advantage of a settlement, versus a jury verdict, is no appeals.
Other important terms of the settlement, per news reports
- Statewide de-escalation training for all current and future troopers.
- Waller County required to have a nurse or emergency technician at the jail round-the-clock plus establish a tele-medicine system so inmates could be screened by physicians face-to-face.
- Waller County required to install sensors to validate cell checks electronically.
Back story
On Friday July 10, Sandra Bland, 28, was stopped by Brian Encina, then a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, for failing to properly signal a lane change.
In case you have forgotten the circumstances around her arrest, Encina screamed at her and threatened her with a Taser because she would not put out her cigarette. “Get out of the car!“, you can hear him saying on the dashcam (below). “I will light you up! Get out!”
He pulled her out of her car, threw her to the ground, and put his knee to neck.
A bystander filmed this:
Encina arrested Bland and drove her to the Waller County jail.
After waiting in mail almost three days for her family to post $5,000 bail, Bland was found dead on July 13, at 9.m.
Her death was officially ruled a suicide.
From the LA Times description of their YouTube comparison of the dashcam:
The Texas Department of Public Safety released dashcam video of Sandra Bland’s arrest on July 21, 2015. However, there were issues with the video that led many to believe it was doctored. On the 22nd, they released a new version without these issues. We compare them (initial release on left, new release on right.)
Why was Bland still in jail on Monday?
According to Slate’s reporting at the time, Bland to scrape up with $500 in cash —- 10 percent of the full sum —- in order to get out of jail.
… the bail system is particularly hard on poor people, who frequently get stuck behind bars because they can’t afford to post bond, while those with greater means pay their bail and go home. According to one study, five out of six people in jail are there because they could not afford to pay their bail.
Do we need reform in the bail system? When you have a system like that at Rikers in New York, where 85 percent of the people in jail have not been convicted but are waiting trial — for months — because they can’t post bail, then the answer should clearly be “yes”.
You may think that bail is a means of assuring that someone will show up in court, that it is a means of deterring “flight risk.” Blame TV. Because if a judge thinks the accused is a flight risk or there is a risk of violence, bail is not an option.
The problem with fixed bail schedules, [according to Tim Schnacke, the executive director of a research center focused on bail policy], is that they “keep low- and medium-risk people in jail who don’t have money,” while keeping high-risk people with money out of jail.
Other 2015 death-by-cop updates, Ohio
On July 19, 2015, a University of Cincinnati police officer shot and killed Samuel DuBose in a traffic stop. In January, the University settled with his family for $4.8 million.
The officer, Ray Tensing, 26, has been charged with murder. His trial is next month.
Cincinnati.com reported in June:
Former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing led the department in the number of stops, citations and arrests in the year he was patrolling city streets, according to the latest report on UCPD by outside investigator Exiger. Tensing also had the highest racial disparity among those he stopped than any other UC officer, the report stated.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com