Law Grandmother dies after spending last five months of her life in jail on $300 bond without trial

Trotsky

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This is a completely ordinary, unremarkable story in the United States of an un-convicted person dying in police custody because they don't have bail money and/or the mental faculties to fend for themselves. Frankly, the only thing remotely unusual about it is that, usually, persons who die in debtor's prison do not have family to remember them or to bring attention to their deaths, because those families would have eventually scrounged together the money to get them out.


Let’s talk about the injustice that is inherent in the cash bond system and how it disproportionately impacts people of color. Let’s discuss the criminal justice system’s inability to properly deal with those suffering from mental illness. Let’s talk about how those two things combined recently contributed to the death of a 61-year-old black grandmother who was arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge and held in jail for five months.

KSAT confirmed via court records that Janice Dotson-Stephens died in the custody of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Friday. She had been held in jail since July on a $300 bond.

Dotson-Stephens was arrested July 17 on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing on private property—her first brush with the law according to Bexar County Court records.

BCSO officials told KSAT that Dotson-Stephens had been held at the infirmary at the annex detention center and appeared to have died from natural causes.

The most shameful part about it is that most bail bond companies require a 10 percent payment to bail you out, meaning Dotson-Stephens could have been set free for just $30.

According to court records, Dotson-Stephens refused to be interviewed about her case the day after she was arrested and again on four straight days in late July, KSAT reports. She refused once again on Aug. 4.

On Aug. 8, a court-appointed attorney was assigned to her case, and when she refused to make a court appearance on Aug. 17, she was ordered to go through a psychological evaluation on Aug. 27.

Family members said they were unaware Dotson-Stephens was in jail. They thought she was being treated at a state hospital.

Dotson-Stephens’ daughter-in-law, Leticia Dotson, told KSAT that she and her husband were devastated to find out that Dotson-Stephens had died in jail.

“We just felt that she shouldn’t have died as a criminal in the jailhouse,”Dotson said. “She wasn’t a criminal. She had mental health illness.”

Dotson told the station that her mother-in-law had a history of mental illness. She said that in previous encounters with police, Dotson-Stephens was evaluated and transferred to the state hospital.

Dotson said that none of her mother-in-law’s family members had been contacted, something she thinks could have saved her life.

“If it changed and we had to bail her out before the process of getting her to the state hospital, we would have done that,” Dotson said.

“She had people who loved her and family who would have easily paid the $30 to get her out of jail if that’s what we had to do to take the next step,” she added.

Dotson told KSAT that she hopes the staff at the Bexar County Jail and at the state hospital will communicate in the future so this will not happen to other families.

“If your family has a mental illness, it’s not in their control,” she said. “She shouldn’t die as a criminal. They should die as, ‘This person had a mental illness and this is what happened.’”

Bexar County officials told KSAT on Monday that they couldn’t confirm if Dotson-Stephens was diagnosed with a mental health condition. They also said that she did not have a next of kin listed and that a transfer to the state hospital requires a court order.

The family told Refinery29 that it wasn’t unusual for them to go long stretches without hearing from the mother of four and grandmother of 10. She often became irrational when she was off her medication. Her father reportedly called the Bexar County Jail looking for her in August, but he was told she was not in their custody. The family feared that she had been released onto the streets and only found out her whereabouts when they were notified of her death.

The situation has caught the attention of California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, who tweeted about it Tuesday morning.

“A woman was held in jail for six months because she couldn’t afford to pay her $300 bond. She just died in custody. This is tragic and exactly why we need to reform our money bail system,” Harris wrote.

In a separate email to Refinery29, Harris said: “The death of Janice Dotson-Stephens is a tragedy. No one should be held in jail for months before they have been convicted of a crime because they can’t afford to pay a few hundred dollars for bail. Our system of justice is supposed to be blind. It is an injustice that a person with money who has been accused of the same offense and can pay to get out of jail, but a person who can’t pay sits in jail with residual consequences, and in this case, tragically dies in jail. We must reform our broken money bail system.”

The Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and the Bexar County Medical Examiner are investigating the death along with the Converse Police Department—which is involved in the investigation because of the Sandra Bland Act.

The Sandra Bland Act requires the Department of Public Safety to appoint a law enforcement agency other than the one operating the jail where an incarcerated person’s death occurred to investigate the death.

Dotson-Stephen’s family said she will be laid to rest on Dec. 28.

https://www.theroot.com/black-grand...B4ub4aNWVpdZou-bX9YbMKOWfD1659SuTc4Y2pPc69NlY
 
that's how bail works tho...

bail bondsmen wouldn't operate if people weren't putting up 10% cash as like insurance that they'll actually show up to their court appearance

if you can't afford that policy, then you don't get to reap that benefit.

Unless we're arguing that everyone should be RoR......
 
That is ridiculous. Thanks for the awareness Trots

If a person is not a threat to the public, bail should be enough a person can in fact afford just sting harshly so they show up at their trial.

A bond she can't actually afford is un constitutional

Shitty family tho. "We didn't know grandma was in jail for 5 months and needed 300 bucks"

Re reading the story this sounds more like a mentally ill woman choosing not to pay a bondsman 30 bucks than her not being able to afford it though. Failure of system to identify lack of mental capacities
 
Should've respected other people right to property.

She was mentally ill, you moron. When a special needs kid wanders onto your property, you tell him he fucked up and you help him home. You don't lock him in a cellar for half a year to die alone.

I blame the family a little bit.

What about the countless other persons without family for whom this is the story of their death?
 
There's more to this story.

You think Grandma's in hospital for 5 months and don't visit her once?
 
Dont break the law
Dont be so unpopular nobody will help you out with $30 bond.
Dont be poor
Dont commit crime
 
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She was mentally ill, you moron. When a special needs kid wanders onto your property, you tell him he fucked up and you help him home. You don't lock him in a cellar for half a year to die alone.

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Grandma's arthritic back wouldn't allow her to bend over far enough to grab hold of her bootstraps.

Remember the GOP philosophy: If one can imagine a theoretical scenario in which a victim, either though their own actions or the actions of family members, could have avoided a bad result then the bad result is always the fault of the victim or the family.
 
Terrible story.

thief or not, she didn't deserve to go out like this.

When I see the elderly on the street in need of assistance crossing the street, or lifting something heavy I always help, regardless of how they look.
 
It's sad the family abandoned this woman. But it happens a lot.

Sounds like this lady had a choice to either die in a jail cell or die on the street
 
Bail should be abolished except in extreme crimes. It discriminates against the poor.
 
Bail should be abolished except in extreme crimes. It discriminates against the poor.

I'd be for this, but then what insurance for a person (who knows most likely they'll be found guilty) to actually show up for their trial? Honest question I haven't put much thought myself into for a better solution than our current system.

Do European countries have bail?
 
I've said it repeatedly, the mental health system in the US needs an absolute overhaul.

Mental illness that leads to minor crimes (trespassing, petty theft, etc) should not be a police issue to deal with. Jails are not supposed to be mental health facilities.

The hard part is it means making it easier to have people committed, placed under conservatorship and the like. Counties need a dedicated mental health team, that does not require cops to tag along to address these issues.

I'm talking a 3rd branch of first responders in addition to police and fire/EMS. Clinicians and mental health professionals to address mental illness.

I had like an entire 2 weeks of 40 hours a day where every single call I went to was a mental health call.
 
That is ridiculous. Thanks for the awareness Trots

If a person is not a threat to the public, bail should be enough a person can in fact afford just sting harshly so they show up at their trial.

A bond she can't actually afford is un constitutional

Shitty family tho. "We didn't know grandma was in jail for 5 months and needed 300 bucks"

Re reading the story this sounds more like a mentally ill woman choosing not to pay a bondsman 30 bucks than her not being able to afford it though. Failure of system to identify lack of mental capacities

Agreed. This is not an issue with prison reform, bail reform, or anything like it. This is a problem with the government investing so little in mental health that our jail system, not prison system--- jail system has become the country's defacto mental ward.

It is well known in police circles. And the police hate it more than any of us because they know it is not what they were designed to do.

Ask a friend on the police force what % of the people they are dealing with day to day are legitimately mentally ill. Ask them what % of the people they are bringing in on a day to day basis are legitimately mentally ill. Then ask them what they are able to do for or with those people once they have them.
 
Dont break the law
Dont be so unpopular nobody will help you out with $500 bond.
Dont be poor
Dont commit crime
Jesus Christ you're a waste of space.
 
I've said it repeatedly, the mental health system in the US needs an absolute overhaul.

Mental illness that leads to minor crimes (trespassing, petty theft, etc) should not be a police issue to deal with. Jails are not supposed to be mental health facilities.

The hard part is it means making it easier to have people committed, placed under conservatorship and the like. Counties need a dedicated mental health team, that does not require cops to tag along to address these issues.

I'm talking a 3rd branch of first responders in addition to police and fire/EMS. Clinicians and mental health professionals to address mental illness.

I had like an entire 2 weeks of 40 hours a day where every single call I went to was a mental health call.

Absolutely this.
 
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