Mom held for unpaid traffic tickets dies in Tarrant Co. jail

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/708436.html

Tarrant County Jail inmate dies days after complaining about an untreated infection
By ANTHONY SPANGLERaspangler@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — Calling from a Tarrant County Jail phone in early June, Adrienne Lemons chatted with her 3-year-old son, Chase, and told her ex-husband in Louisiana that she was not getting antibiotics for an infection.

The Dallas woman, 35, was in jail because of unpaid traffic tickets. Ten days after being booked, she was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where she died within hours.

Lemons’ relatives said Wednesday that they still don’t know why she didn’t get medical help sooner.

"It is a tragic thing that my sister goes in for some traffic tickets and comes out dead," said her brother Shannon Woodrome, 37, of Little Elm. "I can see an infection killing someone in the 1600s or the 1700s, but that shouldn’t happen today."

Geeze. :cry:

We have the absolute worst justice system in the country. Texas should be very ashamed.

My condolences to her family, especially her kids. This is so wrong.


Sonia

The systems are different. Austin and most urban Texas counties fully fund Pre-Trial services or have similar programs.

Although the sheriff is responsible for the jail where both persons awaiting transfer to state or federal prison are held, those serving county time and those awaiting trail, the Commissioners Court has budget authority over the jail and related programs.

The PreTrial Services Program enables qualified non-violent offenders to produce smaller cash outlays in order to be bonded and released from jail pending trial.

Poor defendants are either broken financially by high outlays for bail or are forced to remain in jail awaiting trial where, due to their finances, they are provided defense attorneys at taxpayer expense. Were they allowed lower fees to post bail many could pay for their own defense.

The upshot: Penny wise, pound-foolish Tarrant County Commissioners spend an extra, unnecessary $17 million per year, but bail bondsman, big contributors to county officeholders, benefit from the old system.

Texas has the worst criminal justice system in the country. This kind of mistake doesn't just happen in Tarrant. It happens all over the state, And our indigent defense system doesn't even begin to address mistakes at any level. None of them are fully funded to meet the need.

Take a weekly read of the Justice Newsladder and you'll come to believe that Texas is by far the worst in the country.


Sonia

a few years back.
She told me a horrible story of a woman who was arrested for hot checks and didn't have the money to make restitution.
From what I understand there are a couple of different scenarios at work...and it has to do whether you are confined to a state or local institution. The state contracts for health services and most counties do not.
Anyway...this woman was having heavy bleeding in between periods as well as some other symptoms.
My friend tried to get the county to transport her for medical treatment but they would not "pay money for female problems she can handle herself when she gets out".
Long story short...the woman had advanced cervical cancer by the time she got out of jail. She died.

If you ever have time to visit a local courthouse you would see that most of the crimes of hot checks and petty thefts involve women who live in poverty who are trying to support their kids. There are many exceptions to this of course, but it holds true in most towns.

I have never seen the difference in someone writing a hot check to purchase something or someone giving a credit card that they default on. They both equate to someone not being paid for merchandise received yet the punishments are so different.

I went thru orientation at a facility that is over another county's jail house. I spoke with some of the nurses who were just starting to work in the jail and got some horror stories.
The medication nurse who was assigned to hand out inmates meds each day just didn't show up. The jail made NO arrangements whatsoever to get this assignment covered. The inmates down this nurse's assigned hall just didn't GET their meds that day.
Another nurse overheard an inmate telling a med nurse that the pill that she was handing him was NOT the pill he had been taking day after day. The nurse argued with him, the inmate relented and took the pill. The nurse then went and looked in the trash for the pill wrapper. She had given the patient the wrong medicine.
This is the same Texas county jail system that had the DOJ investigation done and the entire report was posted online. Inmates not getting meds, others being ignored until their health problems were so bad that when they were finally taken to the county hospital they either died or were damaged physically for life by whatever illness it was that they had. Huge ass report that slammed every aspect of the medical care given by the county jail staff. No med delivery records (paper trail) filled out, no evidence that meds were even handed out correctly on some days.
And the MRSA infection that runs rampant is a whole other problem in and of itself.