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Rumpus Book ClubUndocumented Prison Deaths
“..currently, there isn’t a single federal law requiring state-run jails and prisons to report detainee deaths, or what caused them. Not one.”
After the Death in Custody Act expired back in 2006, there has been no accountability for the reporting of in-prison deaths, making the mortality rates data completely voluntary for the past 5 years. The Death in Custody Act of 2011, which mandates that the cause and nature of detainee deaths be explicitly detailed to the attorney general, was just passed by the House Judiciary Committee.
If the act passes, it would aid in a more data-based comprehensive understanding of the mortality rates in the state-run prison system, but it doesn’t necessarily leave room for acknowledging the “abuse or negligence as a factor,” which is unfortunate.
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