The discussion and analysis introduced here have an audience in those professionals employing their skills in the service of the correctional system. Hence, the analysis might appear devoid of emotional references.
This is, of course, not to say that professionals in this field are not animated by emotions, rather that impulsive behavioral approaches (and emotions could be described as such) can only bring clutter to a discussion aimed at providing a clear, by numbers, picture of the problem.
As a result, arguments or discussions about what incarcerated people deserve or their reasons of incarceration will not be referenced.
Instead, and how it should be, all analyses are approached from a numbers’ perspective with the understanding that persons registered in the correctional system are human beings who made mistakes and, by spending time separated from the general population, they have the chance to reflect on those mistakes.
Contents
A discussion on probability
The law
Suicide related costs
Root causes for prison-related suicide litigation
Due diligence
A DISCUSSION ON PROBABILITY
An analysis of the World Prison Population List, a resource listed on the National Institute of Corrections website1,2, and including of its latest edition3, reveals that United States is constantly a top contender, if not the first, in terms of the number of incarcerated population.
According to information available in the latest edition (13, published December 2021) of the World Prison Population List3 and current as of October 2021, continental US had about 2.07 million inmates and its prison population rate – the number of prisoners per 100,000 of the national population – was 629.
As comparison, in China 1.69 million prisoners were reported with a prison population rate of 119.
Completed suicide incidents increased, on average, 85% in US state prisons4 over a span of 18 years, with 60% of these deaths were of individuals between 25 and 44. In 2019, 355 deaths by suicide were recorded in local jails, 311 in state prisons and 29 in federal prisons.
The high number of prison inmates, on the rise (corrected to the total population increase in the US for the same time frame), combined with the increase in the number of completed suicides suggest a less than comfortable probability5 – close to 10% of local jails and 20% of state and federal prisons had at least one completed suicide event in 2019.
THE LAW
While absolute inmate suicide figures or their percentage from the total number of inmates might appear small, litigation associated costs and the attendant fall-out for correctional institutions are taxing.
Ruiz v. Estelle6 1980 5th Circuit Court of Appeals established basic minimum standards and mandated that correctional facilities have a program in place for screening and evaluating inmates at risk of suicide and also offer treatment requiring the participation of trained professionals for those found at risk. Treatment should not be limited to segregation and close supervision of inmate patients.
NCCHC (National Commission on Correctional Health Care) established standards for mental health services in correctional facilities. These standards are a requirement for correctional facility accreditation. As per NCCHC, the accreditation has multiple benefits7 for the accredited institution, this being the reason why most seek to establish and maintain it.
Some of these benefits are listed below:
- protects the institution by minimizing the occurrence of adverse events, thus avoiding health care-related lawsuits and grievances and often reducing liability premiums
- recognizes staff contributions and excellence, improves morale, and aids recruitment and retention
- helps obtain community support and provides justification for budget requests
NCCHC standards are widely used by department of corrections nation-wide and government departments in establishing operational standard procedures8,9. These standard operational procedures require a minimum annual training on the topic of suicide prevention in prisons.
More recent research identified high-priority needs to reduce mortality in correctional facilities. The results of this study appeared on the National Institute of Justice website10. One key element in the findings was centered on suicide prevention, with an emphasis on risk assessment, in the context of the need for an improved level of mental health care in correctional facilities, level comparable to community care.
SUICIDE RELATED COSTS
The law established a framework for protecting the rights of prison inmates, research identified the most pressing needs to reduce mortality in correctional institutions, and experts and various organizations defined standards to be used. Yet, the number of suicides in prisons appears to have reached a figure that remains resistant to decrease.
The correctional system is generally perceived as a closed structure and answers that could bring clarifications to the question about what fuels suicide in jails and prisons remain hard to come by. Until pertinent answers become available through multi-disciplinary research, correctional institutions need to find solutions to a more pressing reality: the cost of suicide related litigation.
In his book, chapter 9 “Life and course of a suicide-related lawsuit” in prisons, page 259, Dr. Daniel introduces a study from Cornell University Law School that has some representative details. These reveal details about the topic of suicide-related litigation in prisons in a completely different light.
The apparently small number of prison-linked suicides resulted in about 95,000 civil lawsuits over a period of 6 years (between 2012 and 2018). Of these, close to 67% were settled out of court and settlement amounts were estimated to be to the tune of millions of USD per settlement. While the precise amounts of out-of-court settlements are not always known, a 2004 U.S. Department of Justice report mentioned that plaintiffs won 55% of these court actions and 4.4 billions USD were paid in reparations.
Research studies might be seen as “dry” sequences of numbers with no roots in daily life. For this reason, a short list of recent settlement examples are provided below with references.
Caleb (Jenna) Mitchell v Georgia DOC – incident occurred in 2017, settlement reached 2021, settlement amount 2.2 million USD11
Thomas M. Fitzgerald v The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) – incident occurred in 1999, settlement reached 2016, settlement amount 1.2 million USD12
Garner v Indiana DOC – incident occurred in 202013
Palakovic v Pennsylvania DOC – incident occurred in 2012, settlement reached 2021, settlement amount 0.675 million USD14
Wallace v private prison owned by GEO group – incident occurred in 2015, settlement reached 2017, settlement amount 7 million USD15
ROOT CAUSES FOR PRISON-RELATED SUICIDE LITIGATION
It is not the objective of this segment to discuss the party at fault. The “causes” that led an individual to consider the extreme option towards the exit are complex and will likely never be revealed in totality to observers, irrespective of the amount of visual data, individual surveillance or restraint.
Correctional units are responsible for their inmates, and the 8th amendment of the U.S. Constitution declares that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”16 but a guidance as to what defines “cruel and unusual punishments” versus “limiting, restrictive or even harsh” is not provided. This is a thin line and likely one reason why it becomes easy for an institution to be “in the wrong”. The cost of reparations however is steep.
By looking at different cases involving inmate suicide, a common denominator emerged as far as what can constitute a cause for legal action against the correctional institution – staff negligence, in other words, a failure on behalf of the personnel employed by the correctional facility to exercise reasonable care in interacting with or handling of the inmates.
There are many actions that can fall under the umbrella of “negligence” and some pertaining to suicide are exemplified below:
- failure in assessing suicide risk
- failure in acting upon learning of a suicide risk
- neglect of inmates
- deliberate delay, failure to provide or restricting a prisoner from receiving needed or recommended medical care
While the suicide risk cannot be completely eliminated and no guarantees can be made or given in this respect by prisons, the correctional facilities are obligated to demonstrate all reasonable care has been taken to prevent attempts to suicide to become realized. This is to say, the institution is able to demonstrate it exercised “due diligence” at the time the unfavorable event manifested.
In addition to direct benefits in curbing the risk of inmate suicide, attending professional training sessions and documenting such training on top of existing written rules and procedures is one example of demonstrating due diligence.
DUE DILIGENCE
Our office helps in defending due diligence by providing access to an educational course dedicated to professionals in the correctional system.
Dr. Daniel’s book Suicide in Jails and Prisons: Preventive and Legal Perspectives: A Guide for Correctional and Mental Health Staff, Experts, and Attorneys is another excellent resource for suggestions and ideas in implementing successful preventative solutions against inmate suicide.
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Reference list for this discussion:
1. Walmsley, R. (2015). World Prison Population List, Eleventh Edition. International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS), Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR). Accession Number: 031505. National Institute for Corrections.
https://nicic.gov/world-prison-population-listeleventh-edition
accessed April 9, 2023.
2. Walmsley, R. (2015). World Prison Population List, Eleventh Edition. International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS), Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR). World Prison Brief.
https://www.prisonstudies.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/world_prison_population_list_11th_edition_0.pdf
accessed April 9, 2023.
3. Fair, H., Walmsley, R. (2021). World Prison Population List, Thirteenth Edition. International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS), Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR). World Prison Brief.
https://www.prisonstudies.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/world_prison_population_list_13th_edition.pdf
accessed April 9, 2023.
4. Carson, EA. (2021). Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables. NCJ 300731. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/suicide-local-jails-and-state-and-federal-prisons-2000-2019-statistical-tables
accessed April 9, 2023.
5. (2021). PRESS RELEASE. Nearly a Fifth of State and Federal Prisons and a Tenth of Local Jails had at Least One Suicide in 2019. U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs
https://www.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh241/files/archives/pressreleases/2021/nearly-fifth-state-and-federal-prisons-had-least-one-suicide-2019
accessed April 10, 2023.
6. Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1265 (S.D. Tex. 1980), *1339
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/503/1265/1466998/
accessed April 10, 2023.
7. (current). Third-Party, Objective Assessment From The Organization That Writes The Standards For Correctional Health Care. Benefits of Accreditation. NCCHC (National Commission on Correctional Health Care).
https://www.ncchc.org/accreditation/
accessed April 10, 2023.
8. (2011). 2011 Operations Manual ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards. 4.6 Significant Self-harm and Suicide Prevention and Intervention. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
https://www.ice.gov/detain/detention-management/2011
https://www.ice.gov/doclib/detention-standards/2011/pbnds2011r2016.pdf
accessed April 10, 2023.
9. (2017, current). POLICY AND PROCEDURE. SUICIDE PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.
https://doc.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/doc/publication/attachments/PP%206080.2G%20Suicide%20Prevention%20and%20Intervention%208-9-2017.pdf
accessed April 10, 2023.
10. Russo, J., (2019). Caring for Those In Custody. Identifying high-priority needs to reduce mortality in correctional facilities. National Institute of Justice.
https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/caring-those-custody
accessed April 10, 2023.
11. Richards, T., (2021). Settlement reached in Valdosta inmate death. The Valdosta Daily Times.
https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/settlement-reached-in-valdosta-inmate-death/article_1e21fcc4-5315-5aeb-8020-bad1f717f2a2.html
accessed April 11, 2023.
12. (2016). Federal Bureau of Prisons Settles for $1.2 Million on Wrongful Death. Prison Legal News.
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/aug/22/federal-bureau-prisons-settles-12-million-wrongful-death/
accessed April 11, 2023.
13. Evans, T. (2021). Family files lawsuit in death of severely mentally ill man held at Indiana prison. Indianapolis Star
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2021/11/30/lawsuit-mentally-ill-man-should-not-have-died-indiana-prison/8797782002/
accessed April 11, 2023.
14. Ward, P.R., (2021). Parents settle Department of Corrections suit over prison suicide of their son. Trib Live
https://triblive.com/local/regional/parents-settle-department-of-corrections-suit-over-prison-suicide-of-their-son/
accessed April 11, 2023.
15. MacDonald, T. (2017). Private DelCo prison settles lawsuit over suicide for $7M. WHYY/PBS
https://whyy.org/articles/private-delco-prison-settles-lawsuit-suicide-7m/
accessed April 11, 2023.
16. Constitution of the United States, Eighth Amendment.
https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-8/
accessed April 11, 2023.
Last changed February 10 2023
