The AP (12/21, Aljas, Little) reported that there were “48 jail suicides since the 2017 launch of a sweeping Texas law aimed at reducing such deaths through better screening and monitoring.” The Sandra Bland Act “hasn’t made a dent in the number of suicides, and experts blame its failure to address one of the most significant factors: the lack of staff to watch troubled inmates.” The AP “and the University of Maryland’s Capital News Service compiled a database of more than 400 lawsuits in the last five years alleging mistreatment of inmates in U.S. prisons and jails” and found nearly “40 percent involved suicides in local jails – 135 deaths and 30 attempts,” while “all but eight involved allegations of neglect by the staff.”
Related Links:
— “Ambitious Texas law fails to make dent in jailhouse suicides, “Riin Aljas and Ryan E. Little, AP, December 21 2019