The families of 22 individuals who either died or sustained serious injuries while incarcerated in the Harris County Jail are seeking their day in court, as civil rights attorney Ben Crump and local attorney Paul Grinke have filed a federal lawsuit against Harris County regarding its oversight, or lack thereof of the jail.
The lawsuit contends the Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail, deliberately neglected its duty to keep incarcerated individuals safe, and that jail employees refused to provide medicines and treatments to individuals in need; individuals who ultimately died. Crump and the families he represents also say many of the 22 individuals named in the lawsuit were assaulted and jail guards failed to stop violent attacks.
Crump said his office continues to receive calls, averaging at least two per month, from families with similar horror stories about their loved ones’ experiences in what several press conference attendees called the “House of Death.”
“I mean, at what point do we ring the alarm? At what point do we say that there’s an epidemic? At what point do we say enough is enough?” asked Crump.
According to Crump’s team, most of these families still haven’t received word from the county on what they say happened, leaving their loved ones in the dark.
The lawsuit seeks to bring the truth to light.
Part of the known truth is, nine of the 22 named plaintiffs died in custody while the remaining 13 have suffered due to lack of access to medicines and treatments and/or severe beatings to all parts of the body, leaving some with broken necks requiring surgery.
“Somebody who you know has an illness and you know the medicine they need, and yet you won’t give them their medicine; that is the very definition of cruel and unusual punishment,” said Crump, who was joined at the Aug. 7 press conference by several family and spouses of loved ones involved in the lawsuit, including Jacilet Griffin-Lee, mother to Evan Lee who was murdered in the Harris County Jail on March 22, 2022, after he was beaten by another detainee and didn’t receive sufficient medical care, according to the lawsuit.
“March 22, 2022 has totally torn our lives,” said Griffin-Lee. “But… I want to make a change. This is why I spoke up. This is why I’ve made miles to the Capitol. No one, no one waiting their day in court deserves the death penalty. And zero transparency from the agency makes it worse.”
During the press conference, State Rep. Ron Reynolds shared breaking news from Brandon Wood, executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS).
“Due to their (Harris Co. Jail) compliance issues, the County will now fall into escalated enforcement category and be subjected to additional on-site inspections and be required to submit progress reports on a monthly basis in accordance to the rules governing their status. The Sheriff (Ed Gonzalez) and the County Judge (Lina Hidalgo) will be summoned to appear… at the November meeting to provide these updates,” read Reynolds, who added, “So, now the state is escalating because of these deficiencies. We’re gonna continue to speak truth to power. We’re gonna continue to fight, on the legal end, on the legislative end, on the activist end, and we are gonna make sure that we don’t continue to have any innocent men and women dying in the care and custody of the Harris County Jail.”
