Sandra Bland's family wins wrongful death lawsuit
The family of Sandra Bland has been awarded $1.9 million in a wrongful death lawsuit after Bland died of a reported suicide while in jail in July 2015.
The details of the lawsuit, which were revealed by Bland's mother and a family attorney on Thursday, included 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.
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Bland's death, which occurred three days after she was arrested following a traffic stop, was ruled a suicide by hanging. Despite this ruling, her family didn't believe Bland had committed suicide, and neither did much of the general public.
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.
As many observers tried to figure out how a woman about to start a new job went from new beginnings to an apparent suicide so quickly, #WhatHappenedToSandraBland dominated Twitter.
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The events that led to the death of Bland started on July 10, when Texas Department of Public Safety officer Brian Encinia pulled Bland over for allegedly failing to use a turn signal. In dash-cam video from the day of Bland's arrest in July, Encinia quickly turns violent.
The officer asks Bland to put out her cigarette. She questions his request, after which Encinia tells her to step out of the car. When Bland refuses, he opens the door and tries to yank her out, then threatens her with a stun gun before she is arrested.
Bland died in jail three days later.
No one has been charged in relation to her death. Encinia was fired after being charged with perjury for his statements about why he wanted Bland to step out of the car.
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
