SAN ANTONIO – Calling the Bexar County Jail "the Death Row for the mentally ill,” the lawyer representing Jack Ule, 63, filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Ule was “discriminated to death.”
Ule, who his lawyer Leslie Sachanowicz said had mental health issues, died in the jail last April. He was in custody on a trespassing charge and unable to post his $500 bail.
Inmate dies in BCSO custody while being held on $500 bond
“Bexar County jail has become death row, or the death house, for the mentally ill,” Sachanowicz said.
The lawsuit alleges that Ule complained about health issues while in the jail and that those concerns were ignored by both the jail staff and University Health Systems providers in the jail.
“It’s like nobody cares, there’s no monitoring system in place, “ he said. “So, unless you put pressure on them they’re just going to do whatever they want to do.”
Sachanowicz said that blame for the treatment of the mentally ill and indigent inmates at the jail should also be shared by the county judge and county commissioners.
Critics: DA policy on criminal trespass charges gives homeless Get Out of Jail Free card
“They spend a whole year bickering about who should magistrate, the city or the county,” he said. “What did they do actually, knowing that there’s mentally ill people at the jail – nothing.”
The sheriff department’s policy regarding the lawsuit is not to comment on pending litigation.
Following Ule’s death, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales changed policy, instructing prosecutors to reject charges if various conditions are met.
“We should not incarcerate the homeless,” Gonzales previously said.