Weekly news round-up 4/28/25
May 2, 2025
Read the highlights of Texas Jail Project news coverage below and click on the links to read the full articles. Texas Observer: Abbott’s Bail Agenda Could Swell Texas Jails, Test…
Topics: 2025news, Cash Bail, Custody Death, Medical, Mental Health, 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.
Texas Observer: Abbott’s Bail Agenda Could Swell Texas Jails, Test U.S. Constitution
This article covers various bills being discussed at the Texas Legislature. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor have indicated that they are interested in bail reforms that would deny bail to more people awaiting trial.
We’ve addressed a public health issue in the most punitive fashion possible.
Bills discussed in this article include:
- Senate Bill 9: expands opportunities to deny bail and instances that require cash bail instead of personal bonds, and allows prosecutors to appeal bail decisions
- Senate Bill 40: bans using public money to post bail
- Senate Joint Resolution 1: changes the constitution to deny bail for undocumented immigrants accused of felonies
- Senate Joint Resolution 5: expands judges’ authority to deny bail via the state constitution
News Spotlight: Glenn Earl Smallwood Jr. Lawsuit
CW: These articles and lawsuit describe unconscionable and inhumane treatment of a person with mental illness who was unconscious. Not appropriate for children. Please take care of yourself when reading.
Waco Tribune-Herald: Federal suit over in-custody death accuses Angelina County, health firm of ignoring medical needs
The Waco Tribune-Herald covers another county’s oversight of mental health needs and the fatal consequences. Glenn Earl Smallwood Jr. died within hours of his booking at the Angelina County Jail after vomiting while restrained in a restraint chair. The county did not follow proper procedures and he was denied just and adequate healthcare.
“Protocols should have prevented Smallwood’s death by checking his mental status upon arrival at the jail, heeding the warrant from the Burke facility and sending him out for needed mental health and medical care, Gundu said.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Jail staff laughed at dying veteran left strapped to chair in Texas, suit says
More coverage of the treatment of Glenn Earl Smallwood Jr. during his brief time at Angelina County Jail prior to his death.
It’s disturbing to me that jail guards were joking and laughing when my brother was strapped in a chair, vomiting and losing consciousness.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Tarrant County families speak before Texas jail commission on jail deaths
This article covers testimonies from TJP community members at the Texas Commission on Jail Standards quarterly meeting. Members spoke powerfully about the unfair treatment of their loved ones, medical neglect, and the ways in which Tarrant County has violated the Sandra Bland Act.
His death was preventable. If we had $600,000 in assets for bail, I could have saved his life, and he could have a chance to go to trial and prove his innocence.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: North Texas lawmakers want more oversight, transparency surrounding jail deaths
Tarrant County lawmakers and advocates for those incarcerated in Texas jails called for more transparency surrounding in-custody deaths during an April 28 subcommittee hearing. House Bill 3841 would increase transparency, speed, and reporting of custody deaths.