At another jail facility, a state inspection reflected a concern about the handling of well-being checks. At that point, it was noted that the well-being checks were not being done as often as they are required. The following year, the same violations were still occurring. This upgraded the level of concern in connection with inmate checks, bumping it up to significant concern. An additional issue was that guards were caught falsely claiming that checks were made, and many never happened.

In the face of these many findings consistent with recurring problems, the same issues in violations of jail standards continued.

In connection with another custodial death, this one in May of 2017, delayed well-being checks and falsified records were once again discovered during the follow-up jail inspection. Jail inspectors have said that they watched jail security video surrounding the death and discovered that two of the well-being checks that guards noted by hand in the record book never happened.

A jail suicide that occurred in the state received more than the usual attention because the inmate had worked for high-profile individuals in renowned positions of leadership. He suffered a mental breakdown in his battle against addiction. Court records were eventually released to the family, and it clearly showed that guards responsible for monitoring the man falsely claimed that they checked on him even as he lay on the floor of his cell with his neck wrapped in a sheet.

See Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this ongoing series.

Jails are required to uphold prisoners’ constitutional rights. If a policy, custom, or practice at a jail causes a custodial death and is determined to be unconstitutional, that jail can be sued.

Like all posts on this site, this post is a resource to provide information. There is no intent to suggest or imply misconduct or wrongdoing on the part of any government institution or person

–Guest Contributor