NEW YORK, NY — Waller County officials have filed a motion to dismiss the wrongful death suit filed by Sandra Bland’s family. The motion read, “It is apparent now that Bland’s inability to secure her release from jail — and her family and friends’ refusal to bail her out of jail — led her to commit suicide.”
Arisha Hatch, Managing Director of Campaigns, issued the following statement:
“This latest attempt by Waller County officials to avoid responsibility for Sandra Bland’s death reaches an all new low. Since the day Sandra died, Sheriff Smith and District Attorney Mathis have gone above and beyond to disrespect her family and cover-up the truth. After Sandra’s death, more than 3,000 ColorOfChange members donated to fund an independent investigation into discrimination in the area, and the results were shocking. We uncovered a highly unethical and possibly illegal bail bond system.
“Joe Booker, of FastTrack Bail Bonds, spoke with Sandra as soon as she was put in jail and later given an exorbitant $5,000 bail. Booker bails out more people from the county jail than all of his competitors combined, and local attorneys allege that he is paying staff at the sheriff’s department under-the-table to beef up his business, which would be illegal. Booker also passes the majority of his clients to attorney Paul Looney, who leads the now debunked “independent investigation” into the Sheriff’s department that was started after Bland’s death. While we still don’t know everything that led to Sandra’s death, she would likely be alive today if a violent police officer had not arrested her, if a discriminatory District Attorney had not charged her and if a corrupt bail bondsmen hadn’t tried to make money of her wrongful incarceration. Even Waller County Judge Duhon agrees a federal investigation into Sandra’s death and the practices that lead to it is necessary.”
Anonymous quotes on Joe Booker:
“All I see is him. I don’t see anyone else. Something isn’t right about it. It does raise suspicions to me.” – a local elected official on Booker’s dominance of the local bail bonds industry
“What I see is he gets referrals from inside the jail, and I presume a lot of them come from employees of the sheriff’s department. I think some of them are when he bonds people out without them ever asking him to. No one’s going to say they don’t want to get out of jail, and thanks to the surrender law, he has leverage to get paid.” – local attorney, on Booker’s arrangement”
Part 1 of ColorOfChange’s investigation can be seen here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sandra-bland-investigation-waller-county_56017d17e4b08820d91a3900
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With more than 1 million members, ColorOfChange is the nation’s largest online civil rights organization