Now shorn of what was seen as 'anti police language' which was inhibiting its passage, the Texas Senate last night approved the 'Sandra Bland Act,' named for the 28 year old Chicago woman who killed herself in an east Texas jail two summers ago following a very public argument with a State Trooper, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Sponsor State Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) says the bill that passed last night focuses on protecting mentally vulnerable inmates in County Jails.
"This is a mental health awareness and prevention peice of legislation that I think will go a long ways toward preventing future tragedies during confinement in our county jails," Whitmire said.
Bland was driving from Illinois to take a job as administrator of Prairie View A&M University, her alma mater, when she was pulled over by State Trooper Brian Encinia for failing to properly use a turn signal in Waller County, northwest of Houston.
In a video taped exchange that followed, Bland and Encinia got into a shouting match that ended with Encinia pinning Bland to the ground. Bland was found dead three days later in her cell in the Waller County Jail.
Encinia was later fired by the DPS and indicted on misdemeanor charges.
Whitmire says his bill focuses on making sure the needs of mentally ill individuals are met by county jails.
"It will require when someone is evaluated as having an emotional episode that the magistrate be notified within 12 hours," he said. "Currently it is 48 hours."
Whitmire agreed to remove language outlawing what are called 'pretense' traffic stops, which is what many observers think happened to Bland. That's when an officer pulled over a driver due to a minor traffic infraction, simply to have an excuse to investigate another possible crime.
Whitmire's bill also drops a passage requiring that officers undergo 'de-escalation training' to avoid situations like the public dispute between Encinia and Bland.
The bill how goes to the House, where sponsor Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) is optimistic that it will pass.