Recent work by the ACLU has drawn attention to the jail conditions in Bexar County. The ACLU report concluded that the jail is overcrowded and a general public health problem.
http://www.aclutx.org/projects/prisonspg.php?pid=93
The Dallas Morning News ran an article in the early part of August, 2006, which outlined Dallas County's jail population problems. The article noted that Travis and Bexar County courts have been using "jail dockets" for years to clear out people sitting in jail unable to make bond on misdemeanors.
My personal experience over the years has shown that there is a dearth of prosecutorial cojones to make the call on weak cases (passing the buck to other prosecutors down the line) so inmates languish in jail until their case is called. Many find their resolve ground to bits while awaiting court in the Bexar County Jail. If the ACLU report is to be believed, the inmates are waiting in a cesspool of TB, Hepatitis-C, and Staph infection.
Along the same lines, what happened to the inmates in New Orleans when Katrina hit? A recent AP wire story quoted an ACLU report stating that the Orleans Parish jail inmates experienced some of the worst horrors of Katrina.
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