INMATES WIN SUIT OVER WATER AT NAVASOTA PRISON UNIT
Officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice says the agency plans to appeal a ruling ordering the water supply at a Navasota prison unit be replaced.
Inmates recently won a lawsuit claiming they had no choice but to drink arsenic-laden water to cool off in the summer months.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison gave the Texas Department of Criminal Justice 2 weeks to improve the water at the Wallace Pack Unit so that it complies with EPA standards.
Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas prison system, said TDCJ installed a new water filtration system at the Pack Unit, which lowered the levels near the new federal standard.
Clark says the water at the Pack Unit is safe to drink according to standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The Wallace Pack Unit is a medical and geriatric facility that has a high population of inmates who are over 65 or have serious medical conditions.
Jeff Edwards, an Austin-area attorney who represented the inmates, said the TDCJ has spent more money litigating this case than it would have cost to replace the water supply.
It is unconscionable that prisoners had to sue the prison system in order to have safe potable water, especially since many are elderly and/or have health problems. The purpose of imprisoning people is hopefully to rehabilitate them, not to put their lives at risk as further punishment. As for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or the Texas Dept. of State Health Services saying by their standards the water is safe to drink, would you allow your loved ones to drink it on a daily basis?
not to sound harsh, but do we forge why these people are in prison?? it is not because they were rewarded a fancy vacation. . while I don’t think they should be suffer due to bad water or food, it’s just if they wanted the best of life then maybe they should of made better life choices!!
I don’t know why people are so quick to jump at all the things the inmates don’t get.. ask yourself this. . if they robbed you or killed a family member of yours would you be so quick to think they deserved all the finer things in there?? i can personally say that i have family members in prison and I’d be the first to say they need to stay there. . doing wrong should not be rewarded. . . . think about it they have it better than we do since we have to work to pay for our meals, pay for cable, they have exercise equipment (and i can’t afford to go to the gym), they have medical, 3 meals a day (at least), free school (I’m paying for my kid’s college), they get their laundry washed, etc, etc. . . really what more do they lack?? and all at the cost to you when your taxes go up and your paycheck does not!!!
I wouldn’t say you sound harsh, but you do seem to have a simplistic view of the situation. Poisoning an entire captive unit population slowly over time sounds like more of a problem when you consider the costs of that taxpayer-provided healthcare. Healthy water = healthier inmates = lower healthcare costs to the taxpayer, while poisoned inmates = increased healthcare costs = more cost to the taxpayer. You want to pay more taxes to keep unhealthy inmates alive, or less to keep healthier ones alive?