If you read one thing: Two people died at the Harris County Jail last weekend, bringing the total number of in-custody deaths this year to 21, the highest death toll for the jail since 22 people died in 2006.
How did they die? Bryan Johnson, 35, died Saturday after complaining of chest pain and collapsing. Paramedics administered CPR and rushed him to Ben Taub Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was being held on a $15,000 bond.
Victoria Simon, 42, was found unresponsive in her cell on Sunday morning. Medical personnel attempted CPR, but she died in the Baker Street jail health clinic. She was being detained on a $5,000 bond.
Autopsies are pending in both cases. Neither of them were charged with a violent offense.
Why have so many people died in the jail this year? Criminal justice advocates have pinned it on overcrowding, which directly leads to strains on medical care within the jail.
The facility's population, of more than 10,000, is the highest it has been in at least 11 years.
What is the county doing to address overcrowding? The county plans to curb overcrowding by outsourcing inmates to a facility in West Texas, which defense attorneys have decried, saying it interferes with their ability to meet with their clients and properly represent them.
Shannon Herklotz, chief of detentions at the jail, said she has no other option as the rate at which people enter the jail exceeds the rate they're exiting at. "I'm just out of room," she said.
But advocates say the problem is "self-inflicted" by a punitive cash bail system that keeps people in custody while they await trial, particularly those "who are too poor to buy their freedom."
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