An Alabama judge orders mental health measures in prisons after suicide: NPR

Prisoners stand in a crowded row of restaurants at the Elmore Detention Center in Elmore, Alabama, in June 2015. On Saturday, a US District Court judge determined that the state's Prison Services Department was not going to be there. had not sufficiently taken care of the number of prisoner suicides.

Brynn Anderson / AP

hide legend

activate the legend

Brynn Anderson / AP

Prisoners stand in a crowded row of restaurants at the Elmore Detention Center in Elmore, Alabama, in June 2015. On Saturday, a US District Court judge determined that the state's Prison Services Department was not going to be there. had not sufficiently taken care of the number of prisoner suicides.

Brynn Anderson / AP

A federal judge has determined that the risk of suicide among state prisoners in Alabama "is so grave and imminent" that he ordered the state's Department of Prison Services to implement immediately ongoing corrective actions in mental health. to tackle "serious and systematic deficiencies".

Judge Myron Thompson's decision on Saturday comes after 15 prisoners committed suicide within 15 months.

In a 210-page decision including summaries of the circumstances that led to each of the suicides of detainees, Thompson agreed with the prisoners' lawyers that the peak had reached a crisis level, which, according to what he already said, is "terribly inadequate" mental health services provided to inmates.

In addition to ordering the Alabama Prison Department to abide by a host of court-ordered measures that he issued in a 2017 ruling, Thompson also asked the 39 state to put in place an internal monitoring system and announced that the court will appoint an interim external controller to oversee the department. progress.

"The more a person refuses to do something that he has agreed to do, the greater the need is to control if he will do it in the future," Thompson wrote, adding that the efforts of existing surveillance "were too limited, too late."

Five of the 15 suicides occurred between January and March of this year. In one case, a prisoner suffering from "serious mental illnesses, as well as physical and intellectual disabilities" was killed 10 days after testifying in court that he had not received adequate treatment, according to the documents. In another case, a man was hanged about 12 hours after being transferred from the mental health observation to a separate cell, rather than being placed under preventive supervision.

Although ADOC acknowledged in the court documents that the persistent and serious lack of correctional staff had contributed significantly to its non-compliance, the lawyers claimed that prison officials were working on a plan to reduce the number of of suicides.

"The defendants argue that they can not prevent all suicides in ADOC It is true that, as in the free world, all suicides can not be prevented, but this reality does not excuse the inadequacies ADOC's Substantial and Ubiquitous ADOC Suicide Prevention: ADOC is meeting its obligations under the Eighth Amendment, preventable tragedies will continue, "wrote Thompson.

The lawyers of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program, who represent the prisoners in the current case, have welcomed the increased supervision.

"The court's view recognizes the urgency of the situation for ADOC.The system remains largely underutilized and people are dying as a result," said Mary Scott Hodgin, reporter for WBHM, a member NPR, Maria Morris.

"It has long been a time for ADOC to meet its constitutional obligations," Morris said in a written statement.

Last month, the US Department of Justice determined that the state "routinely violates prisoners' constitutional rights by not protecting them from the sexual abuse and abuse of prisoners to prisoners," reported Debbie Elliott, of NPR. .

The immediate measures ordered by Thompson were intended to address specific shortcomings of the CODA. They include qualified personnel for suicide risk assessments; place suicidal or potentially suicidal people under preventive supervision; follow-up with released suicide watchers; and limit the solitary confinement of prisoners released from suicidal supervision.

In addition, ADOC must enforce existing policies, including 30-minute records on people in solitary confinement, where most suicides took place, and requiring staff to take rescue measures immediately when it finds a detained committing suicide, including immediately reducing the number of detainees who hanged themselves.