January 23, 2017, is the date for the wrongful death lawsuit of Sandra Bland to begin. U.S. District Judge David Hitner set the date on Thursday, December 17, at a status conference in Houston, Texas. Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland’s mother, put out the call for supporters to come to court and stand with her as she seeks justice for her daughter who was found dead in a Waller County jail three days after being arrested. Officials in Texas ruled that Bland’s death was a suicide. Bland’s family vehemently disagreed with that ruling and Reed-Veal filed the suit against the Texas Department of Public Safety, Brian Encinia, the officer who wrongfully arrested Bland, Waller County and two of its jailers in August. Texas asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed last month, saying that Bland’s suicide was due to her family’s failure to bail her out of jail in a timely fashion.
A grand jury is currently investigating whether anyone should be charged criminally in Bland's death. That investigation will hopefully be finished sometime in January.
The dash cam video of Trooper Brian Encinia stopping—and unnecessarily antagonizing Bland—can be viewed here.