Granny Geek

It’s an outrage.

In many county jails in Texas, inmates don’t have blankets. Remember, jail inmates, for the most part, are awaiting trial. Usually, they can’t raise money for bail, so they’re confined in jail until trial.

The complaints from inmates about appalling conditions sound as though they come from some Banana Republic:

Harris County Jail
“The women showed me how to wrap myself in toilet paper, but we were still ice cold and catatonic.”

Hays County Jail
“My friend was locked up in the Hays County jail where it was exceedingly cold with no hot water and no blanket. Is there somebody to report this to?”

Williamson County Jail
“He has been incarcerated in Williamson County Jail for about 10 weeks. He said that the jail is kept cold, at the most in the 60s, and the jailers sell warm clothes to the inmates who have money.”

Well, the fine folks at the Texas Jail Project are giving you a chance to raise some heat about frigid conditions in county jails. You can get full details at their web site. Please consider dusting off the checkbook or finding your PayPal account number and sending $12 for the cause. Here’s the plan:

The Texas Jail Project will notify the press in each town on our list that their jail is so notoriously cold that people are buying blankets for the inmates.

Diane Wilson, TJP co-founder and chief ruckus raiser, will lead volunteer caravans to deliver blankets to the jails.

Once there, we’ll hold a press conference, distribute fact sheets and display the new blankets at their jail.

We will attempt to deliver blankets to the sheriff and jail administrator!

It’s time to bring a little shame to several sheriffs.

I got a simple rule about everybody.
If you don’t treat me right — shame on you!
Louis Armstrong