Woman's Death in East Texas Jail Sparks Legislation

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-state-agencies/state-commission-on-jail-standards/womans-death-in-east-texas-jail-sparks-legislation/

When Amy Lynn Cowling, a 33-year-old mother of three, died just after Christmas last year in the Gregg County Jail, two jailers were arrested and fired from the lockup in Longview, three others were fired and another resigned.

They were among the more than 40 percent of jail staff who quit or were fired each of the last two years at that facility, an alarmingly high turnover rate, according to jail conditions experts. And Cowling’s death was one of nine there in the last five years — a large number compared to jails of similar size across Texas.

Beginning next year, jails like the one in Gregg County could be required to tell state officials how many staff members leave their jobs every month. A bill by state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, sparked by reports about Cowling’s death and other troubles at the Longview jail, is now on its way to Gov. Rick Perry. It would for the first time require the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to monitor jail turnover as a trigger for stronger oversight. “I think it will help put a spotlight on the problem and hopefully lead to more scrutiny,” Ellis said.

Autopsy reports show that Cowling died after a night of seizures as a result of withdrawal symptoms from Methadone and Xanax. Those drugs were prohibited under the jail doctor’s policy. Jail officials say they gave Cowling other medications and have argued they are not to blame for her death. But when Gregg County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano conducted an investigation after the incident, he found that jailers falsified observation logs on the night she died and on at least one other occasion.

[sonias]

1. Absolutely horrible and inhumane

We have a moral obligation to care for those we have incarcerated but true to Texas we low ball costs on everything including human life.

Senator Ellis has always been a strong supporter of justice and I'm very proud of how tenacious he is about protecting the rights of some of the most vulnerable - the incarcerated.

This young woman that died was a petty thief. Hardly a crime worthy of a death penalty. She also had some other medical and mental problems. And we the state of Texas essentially sentenced her to death with these horrible jail conditions. Training and turnover is a symptom of a very broken system.

Texas Tribune 2/12/11
Woman's Death One of Many in Troubled Texas Jail

(snip)
Cowling, whom state troopers pulled over on Christmas Eve for speeding and arrested for outstanding warrants on minor theft charges and traffic violations, was bipolar, methadone dependent and had just one kidney. She took a raft of medications every day. For the five days she was in Gregg County Jail, Cowling and her family members pleaded with officials to give her the medicines that sat in her purse in the jail's storage room. They never did.

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