Frustrated with what they consider a lack of action from local officials, Tarrant County activists are going directly to the federal government to ask for an investigation of the Tarrant County Jail.
Fort Worth鈥檚 Broadway Baptist Church, alongside activist groups ICE Out of Tarrant and United Fort Worth, to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which they plan to send out at the end of the month. Students and faculty at the Texas A&M University School of Law鈥檚 represent the activist groups and put together the letter.
ICE Out of Tarrant community organizer Jonathan Guadian has been advocating for better jail conditions, and more jail transparency, for years. He and the other groups decided to send the letter to the DOJ because the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, which oversees county government, has not held the sheriff鈥檚 office accountable, he said.
鈥淚t's a pattern that seems to repeat itself,鈥� Guadian said. 鈥淎 person dies and an investigation is held by them, and then the same issue happens the next week, the next month. We want to break that cycle.鈥�
Data from the Texas Attorney General鈥檚 Office shows that at least 52 people have died in Tarrant County Jail custody since 2017, some after alleged mistreatment and neglect.
The death rate in the jail is unacceptable, and the Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Office 鈥� which runs the jail 鈥� has been less than transparent about the deaths, the letter argues.
鈥淲ithout swift and effective intervention, the people of Tarrant County will lose many more community members to violence and mistreatment in the Tarrant County Jail,鈥� the letter states.
The 39-page letter compiles news reports and public records about alleged abuses in the jail. There鈥檚 the death of Javonte Myers, who died of a seizure disorder behind bars in 2020. His jailers were indicted for lying about checking on him. Then there's the case of Kelly Masten, a disabled woman who left the jail in a coma in 2022.
Activists have focused in recent months on the case of Robert Miller, a man who died in Tarrant County Jail custody in 2019. His official cause of death was listed as a sickle cell crisis, but found he likely didn鈥檛 have sickle cell and probably died because jailers pepper-sprayed him multiple times at close range.
After the Star-Telegram's reporting, the county hired a third-party expert to review Miller鈥檚 autopsy. But 四虎影院 reported in April that the county never sent that expert anything to review, and Miller鈥檚 family and community members are still waiting for answers.
The Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Office did not respond to a request for comment before this story鈥檚 deadline, but Sheriff Bill Waybourn defended his jail at a press conference in April, .
鈥淎t no time has a jailer been at fault for hurting or abusing or, absolutely, as terms of murdering have been used, that has never occurred,鈥� Waybourn said.
The activists鈥� letter to the Department of Justice criticized the county鈥檚 lack of transparency when it comes to jail deaths. Attorneys for Robert Miller鈥檚 widow, Shanelle Jenkins, say it鈥檚 been a struggle for her to get any information about her husband鈥檚 death. Jenkins she learned he was dead from a newspaper article.
One of the goals of the letter and the petition is to force the jail to be more open with information, said Sara Zampierin, a Texas A&M University School of Law professor and director of the school鈥檚 new which started in January.
The Civil Rights Clinic works with local organizations to help advocate for civil rights issues.
Broadway Baptist, United Fort Worth and ICE Out of Tarrant are clients of the clinic. Zampierin and her law students researched and wrote the letter to the Department of Justice.
The complaint will be submitted under the , which allows the DOJ to investigate systemic violations of constitutional rights in jails, Zampierin explained.
"Then, if they find such violations in their investigation, they can either engage with the county to agree on necessary reforms or file a lawsuit to remedy the problems," Zampierin said.
The DOJ has intervened twice in county jails in Texas, . The department investigated the Dallas County Jail in 2005 and in medical care, mental health care and sanitation. The county made progress on those issues and agreed to further federal monitoring in 2012.
In 2009, at the Harris County Jail, which failed to provide people in custody with proper medical care and didn鈥檛 protect them from physical harm.
That kind of investigation is much-needed in Tarrant County, said Ryon Price, the senior pastor of Broadway Baptist Church. Price and his congregants are frequent speakers at Tarrant County Commissioners Court meetings, and one of their most common requests is more transparency about the jail.
"The Tarrant County Jail is a sealed tomb,鈥� Price said. 鈥淲e are asking the Department of Justice to help us open it up, in order that the truth can be found and lives can be saved.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
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