Lew Sterrett Justice Center

Y nephew has been here for a long time now. he said food sux guards sux and every1 try to fight him. Now that’s he’s been for so long he’s better
Haircuts, clean. If u walk around here its dirty and bathrooms r dirty. Some1 always asks 3 $on way n and out. They need to step it up

as far as jail goes, this is the crem de la crem
First off, you don’t even need a ride here. They pick you up from anywhere in the county. Sometimes they even get you out of bed and bring you and it’s all free of charge.

It faintly smelled like urine after going through security and the bag scan.
There was a city employee asking about soda sold in the county clerk’s office and asked if there was anything «red» available. Exact words «You don’t got nothing red?»
She also seemed disappointed that they didn’t have ‘real’ food — like cup o noodles, (her words, not mine) and seemed surprised when the other employee said they hadn’t carried it in about 3 years.
I don’t know what really goes on in this building and I’m glad my visit should be a one time thing.

I havent been here, and I hope I dont have to. I just want to say Texas justice system is horrible, you are always treated guilty, you cant get a court date, they have 5 years to come arrest you again, they give misdemeanors for registration, i mean its so bogus. I regret ever moving to Texas. First time I ever got in trouble after moving here.

Dude, free room, free board, free urgent and emergent Healthcare, cute nurses, what else could an inmate possibly ask for? And watching Jerry Springer on the tube? FUGGETABOWDIT!

I really wanted to love this place.
I heard that the kitchen used local farms and put great thought in to their seasonally changing menu and the service was not exactly friendly but ‘efficient.‘
Boy was I wrong.
When I arrived there was a HUGE line for food, so my hopes got pretty high right off the bat. Everyone seemed really excited for the food so I assumed I was in for a real treat.
Again, how wrong I was.
I understand that this is buffet style so my service expectations were quite low, but COME ON. I know you make little to no money serving the food, but that doesn’t give you the right to be rude and not take in to consideration the different portion sizes that everyone gets. The gentleman before me got a WAY bigger pile of beans and his brisket looked like it was less undercooked than mine. Did the server THINK I simply wouldn’t notice the difference?
Granted, he did smile and told me to ‘enjoy my meal’ so I decided not to tell him about the portion discrepancies and give him the benefit of the doubt.
It was pretty busy, but I was able to find a table. Again, I understand this is buffet style, but when I asked the gentleman by the front door near where I was sitting if I could sit further from the door he was SUPER RUDE about it. He just motioned for me to sit back down, but at least the front door led to a hallway and not the outside, so although it was raining, I figured I’d be fine.
NOW THE FOOD.
With the reputation of this place, I thought I would be blown away, but honestly I found most of it to be really underwhelming.
The potatoes had lumps in them and the edges got cold pretty fast, so I felt I had to rush through eating them or they wouldn’t stay warm for very long. It didn’t OCCUR to them that maybe I wanted to take my time? Why don’t they serve them just a LITTLE hotter, then there would be no problem. As for the lumps I guess they were pieces of potato, but still, lumps are weird no matter what.
The beans were my favorite part. They had a subtle smoky flavor and the texture was just right. However, I did not like the viscosity of the broth they were in. It was so runny it contaminated my other sides and then I wasn’t even sure what I was eating. But when I focused on the beans I must admit, I did enjoy them.
There is no way that the brisket was grass fed, It was too stringy and when I asked the server what farm the meat was from, he just stared at me like I was crazy. Way to train your staff, Lew Sterrit.
I also had a side of carrots and peas. I don’t really like carrots and peas but the colors were so vibrant I accepted when the server gestured with the ladle. On the plate it looked like a wonderful heirloom salad bringing a nice aesthetic quality to the display. I must say, again, I was underwhelmed. The carrots were mushy and the peas were either not very ripe or undercooked, but they almost had a crunch to them. What are these PEA NUTS?! I did, however enjoy the cut of the carrot, the ends were rounded so it’s not too awkward of a mouthful. But really, the peas and carrots’ best contribution was visual, and that is not making the cut.
For dessert I had two cookies that were so so. I think they had too much butter in them because they were so chewy. All in all the meal was barely satisfactory and the service needs some work. I mean, maybe just a short explanation of what I’m eating wouldn’t be too much to ask?

I had a delightful time at Lew. The industrial vibe of the accommodations, combined with the summer camp atmosphere among the guests, somehow managed to be both sophisticated and good old-​fashioned fun. The noise level was high, like the best hipster restaurants. And the complementary proctological exam was a nice surprise. Big D, little A, double L, A, YES!

The 20 hours I spent in this facility would have to be ranked as the 20 worst hours of my life. I have never been treated by such mean, nasty, vermin who wear uniforms.
The police officers who took me to jail were very civil and nice. But when I got in to Sterrett it was like something out of a horror movie. I was booked at 0108am and saw a judge at 1100am. Then after I was not told I could post my own bond, I was stripped of my clothes, put in prison garb, and placed in a holding cell with about 10 other men. The officers were on a power trip. «Lean against that wall» «NO I SAID THAT WALL!» «ARE YOU DEAF?»
The problem I had with the place is that you are treated like you are guilty until proven innocent.
DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN A POSITION TO EVER HAVE TO SET FOOT IN THIS BUILDING.

Try the beef patties served with fresh vegetables and potatoes. Service is always right on time.

You aren’t supposed to like it you idiots! I spent a couple of days in there for traffic tickets I hadn’t paid. I was in Garland jail, and then transferred to Lew. I had idiot thugs, and other assorted people who thought they were badasses try to start stuff with me, but I had not problem with the officers.
Reason why? Because I was respectful, and did what I was told without giving them a bunch of crap. That’s not saying it didn’t suck, it did, but it taught me a lesson, and I decided I was never going to do anything that would get me put back in there.
All of you tough guys who complain about this jail obviously haven’t learned from the experience.

Imagine you’re a homeless person, but you’ve managed to get enough cardbord together to make a small shack under I-​30. You can panhandle enough pennies for essentials, and together with meals from the Salvation Army and your nearest dumpster, you’re doing okay. Then for whatever reason you’re arrested and taken to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center. Now, you’re in hell!
Now, there are two other county jails in this country that are rated lower than this one: Chicago and L.A. But that would be like bragging that Texas ranks 47^th in public eduation, right? The two other reviews here so far are pretty accurate. I’m a lawyer and have to go into this place a couple of times a week. Just stay away from here if you can! There is one bright star, which is the new south tower. My clients like it way better over there

I’ll probably be writing a book about the experiences I had in this jail. I was transferred to this jail from the Fort Bend County Jail in Richmond, Texas, and at the time I had no idea that I was going from a lukewarm frying pan to a blistering fire. Another prisoner rode with me, and as we approached he said, «the mother of all jails, the house of pain» …
County jail is not a penitentiary, a place of penitence. It’s supposed to be a detention center, a place where suspects are detained to await trial. Since the Salem witch trials our culture is supposedly forbidden to torture people into making confessions. However, this is exactly what happens in Lew Sterrett «Justice Center» in Dallas, Texas. Prisoners spend days in freezing cold temporary holding cells by the courtrooms and are often forgotten by guards. It happened to me.
The Texas criminal justice system is already inherently flawed. Death jails like Lew Sterrett only serve to make the state of Texas and the entire United States more like a decaying third world country. For eleven years this jail failed to pass federal inspections, each year being threatened with shutdown or federal takeover. Empty threats.
If you are ever accused of a crime, here are some of the things you can expect: First, whatever crime you’re accused of will be bumped up to a more severe crime simply because this is a system built on dishonesty. Additionally, the crimes on the books have names that fail to distinguish the lesser crimes from the greater, and your crime will be read out in front of other prisoners during your arraignment. I will refrain from examples, but if you’ve been falsely accused of a serious crime, the uneducated captives in the courtroom who will soon be sharing a «tank» with you will not consider the possibility of your innocence, and you may spend your entire stay in Lew Sterrett locked in mortal combat. There are certain prisoners who are frequently moved from one tank to another for fighting, a maneuver designed to break up conflicts, but in actuality creates fight tours within the jail. New inmates with massive biceps are often likely to challenge the apparently biggest or strongest inmate to a fight to assert dominance, and there is a strong chance that this will be ignored by the shiftless worthless guards. I personally pried two men apart while one was attempting to strangle the other to death, saving one from death and the other from the death penalty, and they weren’t even the alpha males of the tank.
Fights are common. There is also a fairly active drug traffic in this jail as prisoners sell their prescription meds in exchange for commissary. The commissary contract is held by a criminal company that offers a very small sampling of low quality goods at ten times the «real world» prices, which is in stark contrast to legitimate commissary contracts in places like Fort Bend County which feature reasonable prices and a decent variety of goods, even including necessities like vitamins and underclothes. You’ll find none of those in Lew Sterrett. In fact, almost every conceivable product you could have in Lew Sterrett is already banned. Additionally, I had people attempt to send books for me to read, and some of them were apparently stolen by guards before they could make it to me.
The correct procedure for the opening of legal mail in a jail in Texas is to open it in front of the prisoner to look for contraband, then hand it to the prisoner directly. It is illegal to pre-​open any mail marked as legal mail because communication with your legal counsel is supposed to be private. I had many letters from my lawyer, clearly stamped «LEGAL MAIL — CONFIDENTIAL» in red ink, pre-​opened in Lew Sterrett.
Waiting in temporary holding cell
If you know something about the law yourself and intend to represent yourself, you will be sorely disappointed in the facilities available to you in Lew Sterrett. I clearly indicated my intention to represent myself on the forms during induction, and despite this my rights were ignored. I was denied access to the law library for MONTHS, and when I finally got access to it, I had about an hour to do research and to try to get a turn using the single functional typewriter to write my own motions. In the end I was forced to write several motions, including one for an examining trial, by hand. My motions were summarily ignored, and due to my lack of access to facilities were too late for an examining trial, which must take place before indictment.
I was also denied Catholic church services by the guards. Attempts to submit «inmate request forms» (colloqially called «kites» by prisoners) never did anything.
Guards ignored me when I took ill and almost died. Requests for medical attention were ignored. My cell mate in the end was a schizophrenic with epilepsy. Only one seizure of several got the guards attention. I saw others almost die. A guard told me point blank, «You’re a prisoner. You don’t have rights.» I disagree.

Wow this is the crappiest place on earth. I have been here twice (last time was November 06, and I would like to say the accomodations were dirty, dingy and downright disgusting. The staff seem like former Walmart employees or even criminals themselves (not to say that all inmates are convicted criminals because they are not). One word of advice… as soon as you get in, grab the nearest toilet paper roll (they are like gold in here) eat a couple of bologna sandwhiches, drink some fake cool aid, and live for the moment because you never know what the hell is about to happen around or too you.