Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Prisoner death rate in Massachusetts jails tops national average
http://www.tauntongazette.com/article/20141027/NEWS/141026886/1994/NEWSPrisoner death rate in Massachusetts jails tops national average
Prisoners in Massachusetts are dying behind bars at a higher rate than the national average, and suicide is among the leading causes.
“It’s a really perplexing question for me, in large measure because this has been the story for quite some time, from the mid-90s and probably earlier,” said Bradley Brockmann, executive director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at Miriam Hospital and Brown University Medical School.
From 2001-12, the suicide rate among the state’s prison population was nearly twice the national average. During that span, 38 state and federal prisoners in Massachusetts committed suicide, according to an Oct. 9 U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report on prisoner mortality.
Physical illness is the only cause that claims more prisoners’ lives, both statewide and nationally.