Last year, Tarrant County decided that the price of Chasity Congious’ trauma and deceased child was $1.2 million. The settlement was reached after Congious was incarcerated in 2020 while in the throes of a mental health crisis and five months pregnant. Four months after her arrest, Congious gave birth in the Tarrant County Jail alone.
According to an investigation by Bloomberg Law and NBC News that explores the risks pregnant women face while incarcerated, Congious’ story isn’t a fluke or an example of a few bad apples. It’s part of a pattern.
Her story is one of dozens that reporters uncovered after investigating federal civil rights lawsuits filed between 2017 and 2024. The prevalence of the suits suggests that across the country, jails are failing to provide critical medical care to pregnant inmates, the report claims…