Another jail outside Texas was also spotlighted in the previously mentioned exposé. Allegedly, the staff at that jail frequently abuse the restraint chair. One inmate has described that jailers handcuffed his ankles and wrists to a restraint chair and subjected him to the following alleged abuses:

• He was force-fed
• His head was covered with a blanket
• He was called the n-word
• He was not permitted to use the restroom and was left to defecate and urinate on himself for five days

At the same jail, another inmate claims that after he attempted suicide, he was held in a restraint chair for 28 days. While in the same facility, the man’s wife was also placed in the restraint chair at least a dozen times. She says that the jailers would simply look on as people in the restraint chair would vomit on themselves and have seizures. Among the records of people who died in a restraint chair, some perished as a result of suffocating on their own vomit.

Although not necessarily as a result of news reports about the potential dangers of restraint chairs, the use of the restraint device was banned in Florida more than 10 years ago. There has been a growing list of states opting to ban restraint chairs in various facilities, including in some county jails.

See Part 1 of this ongoing series, to include details on non-compliance in Texas jails involving restraint chairs.

Posts on this site are intended as helpful resources for current and former inmates and their families. There is never an intention to suggest that impropriety of any kind has occurred on the part of an entity or individual.

–Guest Contributor