By now, much of the country knows the story of Sandra Bland, who was taken into custody by police in Texas during a routine traffic stop and, days later, was dead. Her case brought to light troubling concerns about the way police treat those in their care. It also rightfully sparked outraged across the country.
Sandra Bland, however, isn’t the only person to die at the hands of Texas jailors. This morning, The Guardian newspaper published an op-ed by Maria Escamilla. In February 2009, Ms. Escamilla’s son, Rafael Solis, was taken into custody, like Sandra Bland, for a non-violent offense. Days later, Rafael was dead.
As Ms. Escamilla writes in her op-ed, “. . . Rafael was put in handcuffs and shackles, held face down against the floor of his cell, stomped on and beaten until he died.” The Webb County coroner declared his death a homicide. And a really disturbing piece of evidence is noted in a subsequent Texas Rangers report – there are marks on his body of imprints that matched the laces of his jailors’ shoes.
Solis died, in short, at the hands and feet of the jailors who were entrusted with his care.
Almost as troubling is the cover up. The jailors said that Mr. Solis died of the DTs, or withdrawal from alcohol. But Mr. Solis was not only badly bruised; he had broken ribs and severe hemorrhaging inside his chest. That is not a sign of DTs; it’s a sign he was murdered. Blaming his death on alcohol withdrawal is untrue and a whitewash. And, on top of that, the cameras that should have been recording events in the jail weren’t working on the Rafael Solis was killed.
Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence in this case, no one has ever been held accountable. Seven years later, Ms. Escamilla and her two grandsons continue to wait for justice. When a federal district court in Texas said a lawsuit alleging excessive force should go forward against seven of the Webb County jailors, they appealed. They’re each claiming qualified immunity. The upshot of their legal defense is that they had no way to know whether what they were doing was illegal or not, that it was all a grey area. Our argument to the court of appeals is simple: Kicking and beating a handcuffed man and killing him is not a grey area.
It’s time for this case to go to a jury.
My organization, Public Justice, is proud to be fighting in court for Ms. Escamilla and her family. When our board member Ron Rodriguez, an attorney in Laredo, Texas who has been working with the family, brought their case to our attention, we knew we had to act. We simply could not allow this horrific case of police brutality to go unnoticed. (Our brief in the case, which outlines in shocking detail the abuse that Rafael suffered while in prison, is available on our website, here.)
Sunday – Valentine’s Day – will be the 7th anniversary of Rafael’s death. At long last, his story is now being told. And like the death of Sandra Bland, it should be a wake-up call and a rallying cry.
Texas – and police forces and jails across the country – must take action, and implement reform, before another Sandra Bland or Rafael Solis dies.