Comal County Jail: Reckless Disregard for Human Life
I was unfortunate enough to be held captive in the Comal County Jail (New Braunfels) for one year until August 2006 (Eleven months of that time served was an illegal detention). Their reckless disregard for human life and medical negligence caused the death of more than one inmate during my stay there, including a 68 year old man. He was very ill from cirrhosis and I heard his calls for help, but the staff (including the nurse at the time, Mrs Hood) refused to contact emergency services. He was dead a few hours later. I suspect that the negligent deaths continue to this day.
Me being from Washington D.C., I was unfamiliar with the Texas incarceration industry (I am NOT using the word "corrections" as this was all about locking up as many people as possible for as long as possible down in Texas). I was amazed that it was possible for one so called person to treat another with such contempt and cruelty. Texans need to realize that whether or not they care about the inmates in the local jails, they are creating more problems and costs for communities because these jails are destroying both the physical and mental health of thousands of people. At the least, the bad treatment is creating a population of people INCAPABLE of re integration into society.
My penchant for filing grievances caused me to end up in permanent solitary confinement even though I had never even been accused of committing an act of violence (putting someone in solitary permanently is a complete violation of federal court rulings on cruel and unusual punishment.) It was there that I constantly saw abuses of power so profound that I am still in therapy two years later. Some of their "career" officers (like Sgt. Schroeder) are guilty of literally hundreds of human rights violations and should themselves be locked up.
I wrote this to help give a voice to all those silenced by the extreme corruption and abuse and to tell them to fight the abuse by any means you need to. Your most important ally is a persistent family member that cares about you and who is willing to go public against the jail.
Brian Watkins, November 2009
Comments
Anonymous:
My mom was in there this past summer. Not only did they go above and beyond to try and be rude, they were discriminating against peoples rights left and right. At one point when I went to visit and take my three sisters, i was told that I could not be the person whom was above 18 to vouch for them(their underage) because we looked nothing alike.
They are blonde and I'm brunette. Yes, read that again, because we had different hair color!!! They refused to give her the medicine approved by the doctor i took up there. They treated me and everyone visiting like criminals, laughing at us and so on. So......thats the job that your allowed to treat people like shit?? I have never encountered such horrid people in my life, I was just blown away by their lack of professionalism!
Anonymous:
Something is wrong at the Comal County Jail. The intentional delay in processing by the jail staff was appalling. Even the attorney contacted for the case became concerned by the lack of action, information, and processing by the jail staff. As mentioned in the previous posting, the blatant hatefulness, intentionally cruel treatment of family members, and even a contrived "incident" was used to delay release of two young men sent to the jail by off-duty deputies. Apparently, the staff could process everyone else taken in within hours, but would take over 15 hours to find something with which to hold and charge the young men. When a staff is this defensive, blatantly uncooperative, and secretive, something else is rotten in the activities of Comal County Jail. We will be following up on what could be causing such a dysfunctional system to continue its
frightening treatment of people who used to believe in the goodness of our local authorities.
Anonymous:
There needs to be something set up where a liaison can go into jails and meet with the inmates one on one and yet untouchable by the staff and county officials. Even with cameras . . . . but that is like 'fighting city hall' for the people that this would have be approved by . . . are the masters of the problem.
Diana Claitor:
YES, you are exactly right. We need a liaison or a system where family or inmates can directly appeal to for real help—like meds and medical care for those not receiving it.
You are also right that it won't be easy, but it is the only way to save people from Texas "Second Death Row"—the county jails that refuse to provide real medical services.
And believe it or not, there are jails across the U.S. where there is a non-profit or medical liaison who can go inside. Texas Jail Project is researching this and working with other groups to try to figure out a way.
On a personal level: I want to be able to have someone to turn to when a wife says "my husband is dying because they won't give him any heart meds and will only give him anti-acids."
Then the wife sends that final email or the newspaper runs the story saying he died in there, with him and his family still asking for his meds right up to the end.
Another wife, son and daughter devastated.