Despite Risks, County Lockups Continue Late Releases
HOUSTON — It was 1 a.m. when Acy Williams, a slight, 53-year-old homeless man, walked out of the Harris County Jail and onto the dark, desolate streets of downtown Houston. He wore plastic flip-flops, dingy scrubs and a black fedora. He had no money and no phone, and the Houston Metro buses ran infrequently at that late hour. He decided he would just have to walk several miles across the city to the spot in South Houston where he hoped his belongings were still safely stowed.
“I’m going to try the mercy of the streets,” he said. “It’s ...
Comments (4)
Frankie Bidwell
Texas jails and prisons are not prone to helping people out in any way. In Texas, a person is guilty until he/she can get someone to prove their innocence. It is ridiculous the way a person is treated in our justice system.
It has now become a lawmakers problem. Our police and sheriff's departments have become so calloused emotionally to human feelings of those incarcerated that they are heartless toward incarcerated persons.
My suggestion: When a person is hired in as a penal worker, be it clerk, jailer, or police or sheriff dept. staff, they should not be allowed to work in the penal housing unit for more than one year. Their jobs should also be rotated. The jailer this week should be the finger print person next week and after that he should be a janitor. The staff loses all touch with humanity with they work the same job continuously in the housing of prisoners.
It is a very difficult job emotionally, mentally and physically. It stresses one to the max and they begin to see all those arrested as the dregs of humanity and they start to shut down emotionally and become, at times, negligent and/or abusive toward all who are incarcerated.
There are many hard core criminals in the judicial and penal system and there are those that are wrongly arrested and first time, non-violent offenders. The problem: they are all treated as hard core criminals from the time they are brought through the jail doors.
There has to be a better way. The lawmakers of Texas need to have studies done and figure this out.
Rick Perry is of absolutely no help in this situation. If he had his way a first time, non-violent offender would be warehoused for the rest of his life on earth.
David Spratt
from the story many of them are homeless and wander the streets with no money or cell phones anyway, so what is the problem? Try and release 400 people a day during daylight only hrs , and there will be mistakes made. They should be happy to get out any time of day or night.
Rhonda Loving
I concur with Frankie Bidwell's comment. Texas Judicial System is about making money not about rehabilitation or humane conditions.
michelle mccollough
THEY DO THE SAME THING IN DALLAS COUNTY,THERE WAS A STORY OF WOMEN BEING RAPED LONG AGO AND ''THEY'' SAY ( POLICE DEPT.THAT THEY WAIT TILL DAYLIGHT TO RELEASE YOU,BUT IN FACT ITS A LIE,MY BEST FRIEND WAS ARRESTED FOR TICKETS AND WAS RELEASED AT 2:25AM WITH NO BUSES,NOR DID SHE HAVE HER CELL,PURSE .i PICKED HER UP ,BUT WHO WOULD OF KNOWN WHAT WOULD OF HAPPENED WHEN YOUNG WOMEN ARE "TARGETS" FOR RAPE,ABUSE AND SO MANY OTHER CRIMES.
I JUST THOUGHT YOU MAY WANT TO HEAR ITS THE SAME IN DALLAS,EVEN IF THEY SAY ITS UNTURE!