Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:02AM   Printer-friendly

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.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 04 2020, @03:48PM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 04 2020, @03:48PM (#1046357)

    There is that self-righteous anger assuming anyone sent to prison deserves whatever happens to them.

    Pretty cravem.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +2  
       Insightful=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by barbara hudson on Friday September 04 2020, @10:19PM (7 children)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Friday September 04 2020, @10:19PM (#1046576) Journal
    No, just the realization that some people sent to prison deserve whatever happens to them.

    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?

    --
    SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday September 05 2020, @01:30AM (6 children)

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday September 05 2020, @01:30AM (#1046638) Journal

      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)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 05 2020, @01:51AM (#1046643)

        "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)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday September 05 2020, @02:18AM (#1046651) Journal

          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

            by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Saturday September 05 2020, @03:39AM (#1046667) Journal

            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.

            --
            SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
      • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday September 05 2020, @02:50AM (2 children)

        by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Saturday September 05 2020, @02:50AM (#1046654) Journal
        We live in an imperfect world, and we can't save everyone. Worse, some people play us as suckers, figuring "why should we work when we can just sponge off everyone else, and commit crimes, and what's the worst that will happen?"

        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.

        --
        SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
        • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday September 06 2020, @04:55PM (1 child)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday September 06 2020, @04:55PM (#1047212) Journal

          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

            by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Monday September 07 2020, @12:11AM (#1047340) Journal

            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.

            --
            SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.