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Sandra Bland's Family Settles for $1.9M in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Sandra Bland wrongful death lawsuit settlement includes compensation and promises for procedural changes at Waller County Jail

Sandra Bland's family has reached a $1.9 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit, the family's attorney said Thursday, and according to attorney Cannon Lambert, the details of the settlement were finalized Wednesday night.

The elements of the settlement revealed by Bland's mother and a family attorney includes compensation and specific promises for procedural changes at Texas's Waller County Jail, where Bland died.

The changes include the use of sensors to notify jail staff when it's time to check in on an inmate, jailer training to better screen incoming inmates, and an agreement for the jail to hire a nurse or technician capable of administering emergency aid to inmates.

Bland died of a reported suicide while in jail in July 2015, three days after she was arrested following a traffic stop. Officials ruled Bland's death a suicide by hanging. Despite this ruling, her family didn't believe Bland had committed suicide, and most logical thinking people didn't buy the story either.

At the time of her death, Bland was about to start a new job at Prairie View A&M University, where she would have worked in student outreach.

#WhatHappenedToSandraBland dominated Twitter because it seemed incomprehensible how a woman who was excited about starting a new job would commit suicide by hanging a few days after her unjustified arrest. It felt like another incident of police brutality against Black people.

  • Published in Videos

On The Carpet: Waller County, Texas Police Department

Texas Businesswoman Sandra Bland Dies in Police Custody

Stories like this are on rewind! A 27-year-old college graduate, Sandra Bland was on her way to her new job in Texas when she was pulled over by Hempstead, Texas police for failing to signal when changing lanes. Video surfaced from the traffic stop showing a police officer slamming Sandra Bland to the ground while another officer held her down as well. The officers claimed she was combative which required them to get physical.

However, according to the video recorded by a witness, Bland doesn't appear combative but is heard yelling that they slammed her head into the ground so hard she couldn't hear! What's worse is that they threw her in jail and three days later she was dead. The county sheriff claims she died of suicide by asphyxiation...but this is the same sheriff who was fired from his post as Chief of Police in Hempstead, Texas in 2007 for racism and abuse against black people!

Why was he allowed back into law enforcement at all?

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