U.S. jails may have failed to stop inmate suicides, report finds


Many U.S. jails fail to stop inmate suicides, a joint investigation by The Associated Press and the University of Maryland's Capital News Service found.
Suicide has long been the leading cause of death in U.S. jails. For example, the 50-state reporting effort found more than 300 suicides in local jails from 2015 to 2017, but that number comes from just nine states — the other 41 states reportedly did not provide numbers or offered only incomplete data.
A series of lawsuits all across the country have argued that many of the deaths were avoidable, AP reports. Of the 400 court files reviewed by the news organizations, 135 involved suicides, and another 30 involved suicide attempts. About a third of those cases allege that the inmates who committed or attempted suicide did so after staff refused to provide prescription medication to the inmates to manage their mental illness. Some jail officials argue that inmates often try to manipulate the system to get drugs. David Mahoney, a Wisconsin sheriff, told AP that if inmates are taking psychotropic drugs, "we have a moral and ethical responsibility to continue them."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The investigation also found that the majority of suicides and attempts occurred within the first week of incarceration and that many inmates were allegedly not checked on regularly because of staffing shortages and inadequate training. Read more at The Associated Press.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Jared and Ivanka's Albanian island
Under The Radar The deal to develop Sazan has been met with widespread opposition
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California