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LISTEN: Taylor was caged for nearly a year in Denton County, TX jail. She couldn't afford to pay restitution for a minor theft case. She told her probation. So they arrested her. "Roaches on the trays. On our meal cart. Inhumane." Texas about to pass a law allowing more of this.
Taylor courageously shared her story w/ @TxJailProject. Wanted to be heard. Last thing in the world Texas should be doing now is passing a law to send more people to this torture. "I am openly gay & everyone in there knew that and they made sure. The treatment was different."
"I guess they kept a little closer eye on me & kept me away from certain people that might have looked gay. We couldn't be in the same bathroom. If I was out on the rec yard, if I were to sit close to somebody, a guard would come out there and tell me to move away."
"I fell off the top bunk & hurt my shoulder. At the time, I didn't know it was broke. I had to keep sending inquiries. They took an x-ray, they didn't tell me my results. They then came back, saying that my x-rays are normal. I kept bugging them. It hurt so bad."
"It took me about 3 & a half weeks to finally get to my MRI appointment. Then that same day, they came back to my pod and put me in a sling and told me to keep it immobilized, that I had actually fractured my shoulder and did some damage to my rotator cuff."
"They finally provided masks about a month before I left in August. Hand sanitizers in there about June but never steadily filled. Put COVID positive inmates in the pod after 2 weeks & didn't even test them. Some of them were still having symptoms or issues."
"I took a test, a mouth swab test about three weeks before I left. And then that was it. They never told us our results. The guards just said, 'no answer is a good answer.' Just the inhumane treatment of the people in there is unbelievable."
"My name is Taylor and I was incarcerated in Denton County Jail from December 1st to August 15th, 2020. It is my first offense."
More than 60% in Texas jails--40000--have not been convicted of a crime. Majority are caged bc they cannot afford bail. Yet racist Gov. Abbott, police, prosecutors want more to suffer. On verge of passing a law to significantly expand pretrial caging.
The Texas bail bill already passed the house. Now onto Senate. Would increase the number of people caged pretrial, make it impossible to pay bail for a significant additional number, strip judges of their power to release, end charitable bail funds. It's sociopathic.
Pretrial incarceration has become a potential death sentence, inflicting incalculable pain on Texas communities & families. Last thing in the world Texas should be doing right now is making pretrial caging worse. Sign here to tell Texas lawmakers to stop. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-texas-lawmakers-to-preserve-our-right-to-presumptive-innocence?source=direct_link&
Read back through this thread. These are words, terrors, fears of just one person. Things were bad before COVID. COVID just made the cruelty in Texas jails more apparent.
Visit http://SheddingLight.in . A growing, digital archive of ordinarily hidden state violence in Texas.
Visit http://SheddingLight.in . A growing, digital archive of ordinarily hidden state violence in Texas.
Follow @TxJailProject for more on the current status of things. They forged the powerful relationships with people on the inside and have been creating a safe space to share their stories & also have been fighting for justice for them & their families. https://twitter.com/TxJailProject/status/1390300328634032129?s=20
