Outrage over death of female inmate who spent 5 months in custody because she couldn't pay $300 bond
A 61-year-old woman who died last Friday in the infirmary of a Texas detention center had spent the past five months in police custody — despite owing just $300 in bail money.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is calling attention to what she labeled the “tragic” case of Janice Dotson-Stephens, who remained in the custody of Texas’s Bexar County Sheriff’s Office since her July 17 arrest because she couldn’t afford to pay the $300 bond.
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. https://t.co/FAQEoUQYVp
— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) December 18, 2018
Officials told local ABC affiliate KSAT that Dotson-Stephens, who was arrested over the summer for trespassing on private property, appears to have died of natural causes. They could not explain why she had not been released from jail in the five months since her arrest. Court records show that she refused to be interviewed or make a court appearance after her arrest, and a psychological evaluation was reportedly requested but not yet conducted.
But for Sen. Harris, Dotson-Stephens was let down by the money bail system, with many agreeing that those with limited means are unjustly punished if they can’t afford bail.
This makes me very sad … wish there was a way to know of these situations before it too late, clearly officials could give a damn, they make more money off carceration, death etc …
— Clifton Collins Jr. (@ccollinsjr) December 19, 2018
Yet another example of the injustice of cash bail. Cash bail is supposed to be an incentive to return to court. It is not. It is simply a punishment for being poor. And like here, the punishment can be death. Do people really think someone deserves to die for trespassing? https://t.co/WhLRkFnGZq
— Eliza Orlins (@eorlins) December 17, 2018
The Supreme Court really ought to interpret "excessive bail" as prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to be any bail beyond the means of the defendant.
— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) December 18, 2018
It sounds like the Dickensian debtors’ prison.
— S.A.N.T.O.S. on 11 👱♂️🌱➡️⛰ (@glennwells) December 18, 2018
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