Nation: Bailing Out the Sheriff

In 1963, Sheriff C.V. ("Buster") Kern jailed one William Whirl in Houston on charges of burglary and theft. The district attorney had the case dismissed for insufficient evidence. The order went down to set Whirl free. Somehow the release slip went astray, and Whirl lan guished in jail for nine months until the mistake was discovered. Upon being freed, Whirl filed a civil suit against Sheriff Kern for depriving him not only of his liberty but also his artificial leg.

That is a jailhouse precaution to prevent the use of artificial limbs as weapons.

Whirl won his case early this year and got...

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