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Liability for Custodial Suicide: The Information Base Requirements

NCJ Number
140559
Journal
Jail Suicide Update Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1992) Pages: complete issue
Author(s)
F Cohen
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Federal courts hesitate to find defendants liable in cases in which the potential for suicide should have been known or identified by jail officials.
Abstract
A person who is deprived of any device that can be used to cause death is an unlikely candidate for custodial suicide, but constant monitoring is not feasible and may infringe on the individual's privacy rights. Recent case law on custodial suicides indicates that custodial suicide litigation may occur in Federal courts in the form of a civil rights action or in State courts in the form of a wrongful death action. Federal decisions indicate that custodians cannot completely assure the life and safety of those in their charge, that the standard for liability in Federal courts is deliberative, and that the general right of detainees to receive basic medical and mental health care does not require jail officials to screen every detainee for suicidal tendencies. The legal foundation for governmental liability is having an individual in actual physical custody. Theories of liability currently used in custodial suicide cases include failure to provide medical or mental health care for a serious medical or psychological disorder, failure to provide a safe environment, and failure to train custodians. The author concludes that jails and lockups should develop broad screening measures and implement preventive programs. Prisons, on the other hand, involve longer periods of offender confinement and are more likely candidates for requiring more careful diagnosis and appropriate medical and psychiatric care. 98 footnotes