TEXAS SENATE PASSES SANDRA BLAND ACT
The Texas Senate approved a bill dubbed the Sandra Bland Act on Thursday.
Senate Bill 1849, which focuses on mental health issues in Texas jails, passed in a 31-0 vote.
Lawmakers passed a stripped down version of the original bill, which proposed sweeping reforms to detention procedures and arrests.
The bill was amended to remove a provision that would have prohibited officers from stopping vehicles for a traffic violation as a “pretext” to investigate other crimes, unless there was a strong suspicion that another offense was committed.
The bill requires more mental illness and de-escalation training for officers and jailers. It also allows counties to come up with programs to put people with mental illness in facilities instead of jails.
The bill will now be sent to the Texas House for consideration.
The bill is named after Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old woman who was pulled over in Waller County for failing to signal a lane change. After a verbal confrontation, Bland was arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer. Three days later, she was found hanging in a jail cell. Her death was ruled a suicide.
It’s a bit anomalous to pass a “mental health accountability” bill in response to Sandra Bland.
The amending of the bill was purely race motivated.
I applaud the senate for doing the right thing and amending the bill. That provision was ridiculous.