The Harris County Constable Precinct 4 reported to the Texas State Attorney General, in a custodial death report, regarding the death of Gary Tremble occurring on or about September 29, 2017. Information in this post was obtained from that custodial death report.
Deputies were allegedly dispatched to a street in Spring, Texas regarding an alleged family disturbance call. Law enforcement officers located Gary Tremble, who had allegedly assaulted a person and attempted to and/or obtained access to residences in the area. Law enforcement officers subdued Mr. Tremble and noted that he was sweating profusely. Law enforcement officers were also advised at the scene that he was possibly under the influence of ecstasy, alcohol, and crack cocaine. Mr. Tremble died at the scene after being subdued. The cause of death is at this point unknown.
Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.
BOT Complex, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Administrative Headquarters. (Source: Wikipedia)
The majority of prisons in Texas do not have air conditioning in inmate living areas, in spite of the sweltering heat in summer months. The Darrington Unit, a maximum-security prison built in 1917, is among them. It is located in Rosharon, about 30 miles southwest of Houston. There’s nothing about this particular prison to necessarily distinguish it from others, as far as the need to give relief to at-risk inmates. Regardless of that lack of distinction, on July 19, 2017, Keith Ellison, federal district judge in Houston, ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to provide inmates in the Pack Unit with air conditioning within 15 days. Medically sensitive inmates are housed in that part of The Darrington Unit.
The state announced that it is appealing the temporary order, which has a 90-day expiration date.
One of the considerations in the appeals court will be whether this matter should be a class-action suit applying to the entire prison system, as opposed to only those in Rosharon.
The matter is expected to go to trial. Judge Ellison said that he thinks his order will probably stand, which means permanent changes can be expected for Pack Unit inmates.
In the meantime, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made a statement saying it is unnecessary to take on the exorbitant cost of air conditioning systems and the electricity required to operate them. In addition, air conditioning is not mandated by the constitution. He expressed confidence that TDCJ is doing everything required to give adequate protection from the heat and to provide safeguards from heat-related illnesses. Fans and unlimited access to ice are among the measures that currently provide relief to prison inmates at The Darrington Unit, which some inmates say is a big improvement over 8 years ago.
In Texas prisons, research indicates that there have been 23 fatalities and hundreds of illnesses related to heat since 1998.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
English: Central office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (an agency of the United States Department of Justice), 320 First St. NW, Washington, DC 20534, USA Español: La sede de la Agencia Federal de Prisiones (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A July 2017 report released from the Office of the Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Justice includes a review of the use of restrictive housing for inmates with mental illness by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. With harsh criticisms, the report singles out treatment of inmates with mental illness at the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, prison in particular and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in general.
The report claims that the BOP keeps inmates who have mental illness in solitary confinement with inadequate treatment and for too long a period of time, in violation of its own policies.
The Lewisburg prison was built in 1932, and the cells are much smaller than the 80-square-foot minimum that is recommended by the American Correctional Association (ACA) for solitary confinement. The solitary confinement cells are only 58.5 square feet in Lewisburg, and prisoners are often placed there two at a time. Reporting indicates that keeping two prisoners in one small cell for up to 23 or 24 hours per day results in frequent assaults between the cellmates, leading to serious injury and sometimes death.
A nonprofit news organization that focuses on criminal justice, NPR/The Marshall Project, outlined results of an investigation they conducted last year. The report just released confirms that Lewisburg prisoners stay for years, periods of time that are much longer than BOP’s limits, as was first reported on by NPR.
Another of the laundry list of concerns regarding Lewisburg is that it is cooled with ceiling fans and is one of few facilities in the federal system that still lack air conditioning.
In response to the report, which raises numerous concerns, the acting director of the BOP has announced that the inspector general’s recommendations would be adopted and that a comprehensive review of practices at the Lewisburg prison is called for.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
