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When Asthma in Jail Becomes a Death Sentence:
Growing up, Matt Santana and Savion Hall were inseparable. The two met in middle school while hanging out with mutual friends in Midland, a West Texas oil town. After realizing they lived on the same block, Hall, a year younger than Santana, started sleeping over so they could play video games late into the night. As they got older, Hall and Santana remained dear friends, often turning to each other for help. Santana, who suffers from anxiety, says Hall sometimes spent hours by his side helping calm him down. "He would stay with me until I felt better, whether it was just driving around, listening to music or talking," he says. When Hall had asthma attacks, Santana would make sure he got his breathing treatments, which included inhalers and nebulizers, sometimes taking him to the hospital three or four times a month. The two looked out for each other. "It was special having a friend like that since childhood," Santana says. "I was hoping we would grow old together."
Then Hall was arrested and taken to the Midland County jail last summer. Court records show that he was accused of failing to wear a GPS monitor and testing positive for amphetamines—violations of the probation agreement he'd signed with the local district attorney's office to resolve a drug possession charge earlier that year. Nearly three weeks after Hall entered lockup for the alleged probation violations, jail doctors shipped him to a local hospital due to breathing problems and low oxygen levels, according to a report filed with the Texas Attorney General's office.
Friends say Hall's asthma attacks were frequent and severe enough that they learned to recognize the wheezing and heaving as signs that he needed immediate treatment. But by the time Hall arrived at the hospital from the jail, his condition had deteriorated to the point that medical staff had to resuscitate him. Santana, who saw Hall in the hospital, says his friend showed little brain activity and suffered back-to-back seizures before his family decided to take him off life support eight days later, on July 19, 2019. He was 30 years old. (Hall's family declined to comment for this story.)
Seemingly preventable in-custody deaths like Hall's are common. But while allegations of medical neglect proliferate in lockupsacrossTexas and the rest of the country, rarely do they result in criminal charges. Hall's case is different. Following a Texas Rangers probe, a Midland County grand jury this summer indicted six jail nurses on charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and knowingly falsifying records for Hall's breathing treatments.
Midland County initially reported that Hall died from "natural causes," the most common cause of death reported by jails in Texas. Nearly 800 in-custody deaths since 2005—slightly more than half of all jail deaths recorded in the state during that time—were attributed to natural causes, according to data compiled by the Texas Justice Initiative. But in recent years, lawsuits, Texas Rangers reports, and newspaper investigations have shown many of those to be preventable tragedies that appear to result from negligence on the part of jail staff. Still, justice for families and accountability for those responsible is elusive.
Local jails in Texas, which mostly hold pretrial detainees who haven't been convicted, have been required to report all deaths in custody to the state since 2009.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Booga1 on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:32AM (24 children)
Jails and prisons are a regular death sentence for people with medical issues.
Allergies [q13fox.com]: Milk allergy death. Medical aid withheld for over 30 minutes while the inmate choked to death.
Lack of medication [herald-review.com]: Diabetes medication and medical aid withheld for days.
Failure to treat withdrawal symptoms [riograndesun.com]: Alcohol withdrawal death
Failure to treat withdrawal symptoms [wvgazettemail.com]: Another alcohol withdrawal death
Failure to treat withdrawal symptoms [nvdaily.com]: Opiate withdrawal death
All of these negligence and lack of care incidents cost millions in payouts due to wrongful death lawsuits. It happens all over the country and rarely gets the attention it deserves. After all, almost nobody cares about people in jail.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:42AM (13 children)
If you're that fragile, maybe you shouldn't be fucking around by abusing drugs and getting carted off to jail.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Booga1 on Thursday September 03 2020, @05:03AM (12 children)
Thanks for proving my point.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @05:47AM (11 children)
I think you were pointing out deficiencies in care provided by the jails.
My point is to stress the personal agency of the idiots to not even go there.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @05:54AM
If that was the point, you missed. Instead it looks like you're making this point: "nobody cares about people in jail."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday September 03 2020, @06:57AM (9 children)
So what of the wrongly accused? Things like when people get jailed awaiting trail for drug possession when the "evidence" later turns out to be Krispy Kreme crumbs? Or when the "drunk" turns out to be sober and hypoglycemic? What is the magic they should have done to not be idiots and go to jail?
NOTE that TFA is talking about incidents in pretrial facilities. That is, places holding people that have the Constitutional right to be presumed innocent. Places you go when some over-eager cop armed with a highly dubious roadside drug test kit and no idea how to use it properly decides you look suspicious. Or when the breathalyzer that hasn't been in the same room as a qualified technician in years mistakes ketones for alcohol.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Booga1 on Thursday September 03 2020, @07:33AM (1 child)
Once you're in custody, you've lost all control of your life. You are at the mercy of the state. It is their ultimate responsibility to oversee you. Your very life depends on it.
Check out this other story for that first case. [komonews.com] The guards laughed at him as he pleaded for his life and suffocated to death in their care. He wasn't some trashed out junkie. He was just some dude who had marijuana less than six months(July 2012) before that state legalized it(Dec. 2012). [wikipedia.org]
It's even worse when you realize the only reason the dude was in jail at that point was his own mother convinced him to voluntarily turn himself in. He went into jail for one day and never made it out alive.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday September 03 2020, @09:47AM
Worse still, the jailing was for missing a court date for a fairly minor crime of simple possession 6 months before it became a non-crime.
Since they knew about his allergy and deliberately chose to give him something that would provoke it, then watched as the inevitable reaction killed him, it should be treated no differently than if they knowingly gave him rat poison.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday September 03 2020, @02:56PM (6 children)
If you're hypoglycaemic and you're driving, you're endangering everyone on the road. Pull over and stuff some calories in your face. Otherwise you're definitely guilty of operating a motor vehicle while impaired
Also, the first guy was a repeat offender out on a plea bargain who violated the terms of his plea bargain.
Most people manage to avoid jail entirety, others either work out their issues while in juvie or the first time they see the inside of a jail cell. Repeat offenders don't get special consideration or frequent flyer miles, not when honest people, including some of the people they ripped off to support their choices, are going through waste looking to find the last 10 units of insulin from an insulin pen refill to survive. Cut police budgets in half and invest in communities to avoid this whole mess.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:52PM (5 children)
Many things can cause hypoglycemia (not just diabetes). It can creep up on a person such that they have no idea they are hypoglycemic. It can be mild enough that they're not actually impaired but do have ketones on their breath.
The first guy had a record and was accused of not wearing the GPS and testing positive for amphetamines, but he had not been found guilty of either. Even if guilty, the penalty is not summary execution. I don't expect repeat offenders to get special consideration, but I do not consider not-dead to be a special consideration. On a side note, I find it appalling that people end up scrounging for life saving medication, especially things like insulin where the research is long ago paid off and the cost to manufacture it is a tiny fraction of the retail price.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday September 03 2020, @05:23PM (4 children)
If you have ketones on your breath, you're hyperglycaemic, not hypoglycaemic.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Friday September 04 2020, @12:51AM (3 children)
The ketone situation is complex. If you are not type I diabetic, ketones happen only when you're HYPOglycemic. They are part of the alternative metabolism that converts fats to ketones that the brain can use. Normally there's no problem with that, it starts well before the reserves of blood sugar become critical. At some point though, it crosses over into keto-acidosis.
Diabetes is a special case where the sugar is there but without the insulithe metabolism treats it as an inert substance and so they can have the ketones and hyperglycemia at the same time. Of course, diabetics can also end up there if they use too much insulin for their sugar intake, causing their body to rapidly deplete their blood sugar (and so become hypoglycemic). The hypoglycemic state is by far the more immediately dangerous one (though both are quite harmful).
But the point I was addressing was someone claiming that there was some way to never end up in jail by simply not breaking the law. My point is that you don't have to break the law to go to jail. If no innocent person was ever arrested, we could dispense with trials and go directly to sentencing.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday September 04 2020, @11:09PM (2 children)
He won't be out committing crimes to finance his habit. He won't be graduating to violent crime. Because in systems that are more reliable, people don't learn either. Repeat offenders become habitual offenders become career criminals. I've run into a few, and the world would be a better place without them.
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(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday September 05 2020, @02:14AM (1 child)
Nor did the main thrust of my argument, but as long as we're here, your recommendation is that we issue cops Uzis so they can take out jaywalkers before they graduate to more serious crimes? How serious should the crime have to be to warrant summary execution? How do you recommend fixing it when it turns out there was no crime?
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday September 05 2020, @04:31AM
My recommendations are laid out elsewhere in the discussion, but to save you the bother, I'll repeat them.
Drug abuse is a medical, not legal, problem. Even the Canadian Association of Police Chief wants drug use decriminalized, safe injection sites, etc. The only thing stopping this is politicians not wanting to look soft on crime.
So under such a policy none of this would have happened.
Defund the police. Take half their funds and divert it to prevention - better schools, more social workers who can help kids during their formative years More job opportunities, for everyone. It's crazy when a rookie cop with shit for training makes more money than the highest paid social worker actually helping prevent crime. Then again, the police are not there to prevent crime, just respond to it.
In the 2030s we won't need traffic cops to hand out tickets. The necessary infrastructure will have been integrated into our systems to let AI do the monitoring, send out tickets, and prepare the video evidence necessary to convict if contested. So half the police will be redundant. Why not divert the savings to better outcomes for everyone by providing the necessary support so that more people can succeed?
None of this needed to happen, but it's the inevitable outcome of the current system, that has a profit motive for keeping jails occupied, and politicians who want to look like they're tough on crime.
Unfortunately, the earlier the intervention, the more likely the success. By the time someone is an adult, it's pretty much impossible to move the needle enough to make much of a difference in the course of some people's lives. That's why early intervention is crucial. And why some people will need ongoing help. And why some, no matter what you do, it will still end up badly. That doesn't relieve us of the obligation to do what we can, but we have to also realize that some people are basically broken inside. Trump is one example. Just doesn't care about the consequences of his actions on others, same as this guy didn't even care about the consequences to himself or he would have stuck to the terms of his plea bargain.
There will always be those who have shit for brains, are lazy and irresponsible, and no amount of help will make a difference. We're dealing with people - not machines. Machines are easier to fix. People? Complicated.
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(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday September 03 2020, @01:19PM (9 children)
There's a limit. You've got health problems and you're in and out of jail like a revolving door, don't come crying to me. You knew the risk.
I'll save my concern for those who aren't criminals and are trying to get by having a hard time keeping a roof over their heads. Too many inmates consider jail as "where they meet up with their homies." Go to the courthouse and listen to them talking amongst themselves. They don't care.
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(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 04 2020, @03:48PM (8 children)
There is that self-righteous anger assuming anyone sent to prison deserves whatever happens to them.
Pretty cravem.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by barbara hudson on Friday September 04 2020, @10:19PM (7 children)
The whole world knows how bad US jails are. So did this guy. He agreed to a plea deal and violated it, knowing full well that if he got caught he'd be putting himself in a high-risk situation.
He could have avoided it by keeping his word. And yet, he didn't. It was his choice to take the risk by breaking the plea bargain. So stop trying to justify his stupidity. Or are you going to argue that, given the same circumstances , with the same known health conditions and jail conditions, that you too would have broken the plea deal?
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(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday September 05 2020, @01:30AM (6 children)
I am going to have to side with the AC on this one. This is *not* in-character for you, nor is it the logical *or* the humanistic thing to do/believe. Think of the implications, PLEASE. In a perfect world where the justice system did justice 100% of the time I might agree, but not with the way things are.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 05 2020, @01:51AM (2 children)
"Barbara Hudson" is not a good "character". You're just catching on to what others figured out months ago by interacting with Hudson. Nothing wrong with that, there are a lot of dumb comments on here and nobody has the time to read them all.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday September 05 2020, @02:18AM (1 child)
She seems a lot better than most of the posters on this site, even with this latest bit in mind. Maybe she's having an off day or depressed about something? I don't know, but this isn't normal for her.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Saturday September 05 2020, @03:39AM
No, I'm just being realistic. I know a few people like this guy - unfortunately, the sooner they die the better off the rest of the world will be.
I have to go by the facts. The facts say that people who have a pattern of behaviour like this guy won't change. If he didn't have his epiphany when he managed to score a plea bargain instead of jail time, there's no reason to believe that actually being in jail will have a positive effect either.
You can have a bunch of siblings, same parents, same home, same schools, same economic conditions. Some will become career con artists, fraudsters, thieves, drug dealers, etc. Most won't.
A persons character is fundamental. People don't change in that respect.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." - Maya Angelou.
Two daughters he never showed any interest in. Check.
A history of being a bum more interested in drugs and video games than an honest days work. Check.
Literally pissing away the chance to stay out of jail knowing he's going to have to piss in a cup for drug tests as supervision while out during the term of the plea deal. Check.
His jailers has a duty of care while he was in custody, same as any other custodial relationship. They are unquestionably responsible for his death. But he also had a responsibility to himself, to live up to his word, his promise to abide by the terms of his plea bargain. If he had done so, he'd still be alive.
We don't know how many chances any of us get. All the more reason not to temp fate by continuing to do shit after being given a chance to straighten up. There is no reason to believe that he would not have gone on to more crimes to support his drug habit, or violent crimes. Poor impulse control is part and parcel of most criminal behaviour, and I have to go with the facts and the statistical most likely outcomes.
And this is why it's important to defund the police. They are not there to prevent crimes, just to act in response to them. Invest the money in social services to prevent crime by giving people hope that if they try they can succeed, and extra attention to those in danger of falling through the cracks, dropping out of school, and turning to crime in the first place.
It's not like we're going to need half the cops in the 2030s anyway. Traffic enforcement, parking and speeding tickets, etc will all be handled by radar, cameras, etc built into the infrastructure, and AI. So might as well start planning for using the money saved on improving society.
It's not like the cops going on strike will have an effect on city finances since ticket revenue will stay the same, and every time they go on strike crime goes down, so it's inevitable.
Or is it not worth investing in people to prevent crap like this happening in the first place? And how does pointing out the inevitability of the consequences of today's policies make me a bad person? Because none of this should have happened, and is mostly preventable - but unless we acknowledge the inevitability of deaths like this under current policies, which set people who are in danger of falling through the cracks irrevocably on the wrong path, it will continue to be easier to just preserve the current status quo.
This is the same problem of assholes who want to preserve the life of an unborn fetus but won't provide adequate support for mothers and children who need it, because they're hypocrites who hate the poor - in their minds government welfare should be reserved for profitable corporate donors.
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(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday September 05 2020, @02:50AM (2 children)
Up until he died, his expectations that he could play everyone as suckers was right. He spent his time stoned and playing xbox games. He had two daughters who were better off not being around him. Typical juvenile punk behaviour, that continued after adulthood. His friend who claimed to be such a good friend obviously didn't try to keep him on the straight and narrow, because druggies don't want other druggies to go straight, crooks don't want other crooks to go straight.
You can't blame social conditions - you have plenty of families where, despite poverty, there's only 1 black sheep among the siblings. Some people are just lazy. They don't think long term. They figure they're better off living on welfare and committing petty crimes because that pays as well as or better than minimum wage, and it gives them more free time.
And when they get caught, It's just a slap on the wrist anyway. And they get 3 hits and a cot - far better than the homeless folks trying to make an honest go of it who fall off the economic ladder and are living in their car, a tent, in a shelter, or couch surfing.
This guy had all the markers for recidivism. History of irresponsible behaviour, continued relationships with others involved in illegal behaviour, refusal to change his behaviour when caught, he saw no reason to change even though he knew he'd be subject to verification while on the plea deal.
Some people get scared straight - others say "fuck you, suckers." You cannot change a sociopath. And they don't want to change - because the rest of us are of no consequence. They get caught doing 100 break and enters, do their time, go and do 100 more. They sell toxic drugs, people die, they sell some more. They don't care. They get caught drunk driving with a permanent ban on driving, they show up in court, and afterwards drive away (one case here the guy had over 100 convictions, a lifetime ban, got stopped driving away from court). They don't care.
It's hard to argue that they deserve our sympathy when we know that they cannot change and the sooner they die the fewer people they will harm. It's like repeat pedophiles. After a half dozen separate convictions over several decades, they will never change. Shipping them off to another diocese or the Vatican to avoid trial is tacit acknowledgement that some behaviours are permanent.
In such cases there's as much hope for success as "gay conversion/reparative therapy." Some basic characteristics, such as whether you're gay, straight, or naturally attracted to the criminal life can't be changed. Would you expect Donald Trump to change? Same thing, just a matter of degree.
Because most people under the same circumstances don't turn to crime. They are more deserving of our limited resources.
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(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday September 06 2020, @04:55PM (1 child)
I agree entirely, but please remember humans are still humans. Maybe these are the people who need to be locked away for good, but we can do prison here in the US a hell of a lot better than we do it. It amounts to third-world torture in the worst cases. Why sink to the losers' level or worse?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday September 07 2020, @12:11AM
Unfortunately, as long as we put more money into police and jails than in social services nothing is going to change.
Until a social worker has better pay and prestige than a cop, nothing will change. I don't want people dying in jail - I want them helped wayyy before that point , when they're kids. But that takes better schools, better child day care for working parents, better job opportunities (that people actually think a $15 minimum wage is way too much shows that we need to aspire to creating better jobs, not more gig economy slaves).
Early intervention, getting people out of poverty, creating jobs for everyone, better schools - these lower crime. More cops doesn't. Militarizing cops doesn't. Fining people for being homeless is idiocy. Drug addiction is a medical problem. You don't want cops , you want safe injection sites, and to be able to offer real help - not yet another fine that won't be paid or a criminal record that will prevent them from rebuilding their lives.
This was both preventable and inevitable. Fortunately, in the 2030s we can get rid of all the cops going around writing tickets - AI will send you your speeding, parking, and moving offences. So with half the police redundant, we can invest the savings in people. Prevent crime instead of intervention after the fact with "solutions" that don't work.
And since so many prisons are private, just let them go broke, not the taxpayers problem.
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