Weekly news round-up 5/19/25
May 24, 2025
Read the highlights of Texas Jail Project news coverage below and click on the links to read the full articles. The Guardian: A Texas man is seeking justice for his…
Topics: 2025news, Cash Bail, Custody Death, IDD, Immigration, Medical, Mental Health, Pretrial Policy, Sandra Bland Act, TCJS, Texas Legislature
Read the highlights of Texas Jail Project news coverage below and click on the links to read the full articles.
The Guardian: A Texas man is seeking justice for his brother who died in police custody: ‘He was a good person’
“One in five people killed by police may have been experiencing a mental health crisis when their lives were taken.” Glenn Smallwood Jr. died in Angelina County Jail at age 33 after being restrained while vomiting, cooperative, and unconscious. The officers who arrested him knew that there was a warrant for “emergency detention, to take him to a mental health facility, but instead opted to take him to the jail. While in jail, a nurse found him unconscious and declined to call for additional medical support or to send him to the hospital. He was only hospitalized once officers realized he had stopped breathing.
“We’ve been saying that a very key piece of data that’s missing is emergency detentions,” [Krish] said. “Because how many times do we hear about people going through emergency detention over and over again, and the officers not knowing that there was this history, and they end up in jail, or they end up being murdered by the officers or use of force, because law enforcement and jails do not have access to that essential history of multiple emergency detentions.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Family of woman who died in Tarrant County jail sues for medical records
This lawsuit, following Kimberly Phillips’ custody death, attempts to demonstrate the systemic medical neglect and “obstruction of transparency” that has resulted in multiple custody deaths in Tarrant County.
Full Article at Fort Worth Star-TelegramReform Austin: Texas House Advances Bail Legislation; Immigration Provision Falls Short of Required Votes
The article focuses on Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR1), which would deny bail to undocumented immigrants and certain people who are not citizens.
“Under current law, individuals are generally presumed eligible for release on bail unless a judge determines they pose a flight risk or danger to the public. SJR 1 would expand the grounds under which bail can be denied, without requiring a conviction or individualized findings in some cases.”