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Suicides Plague Wisconsin Jails; Attempted Suicide Suit Settles for $13.1 Million
by Matthew T. Clarke
There has been a rash of suicides in Wisconsin jails, including six in 2005 and four in the first half of 2006. One jail, in LaCrosse County, experienced prisoner suicides in 1997, 2002, 2005 and 2006. La Crosse County Sheriff Mike Weissenberger blamed the problem on …
There has been a rash of suicides in Wisconsin jails, including six in 2005 and four in the first half of 2006. One jail, in LaCrosse County, experienced prisoner suicides in 1997, 2002, 2005 and 2006. La Crosse County Sheriff Mike Weissenberger blamed the problem on …
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More from this issue:
- The Political Economy of Prison and Jail Litigation, by Margo Schlanger
- Florida’s Broward County Jail: Abuse and Misconduct As Usual, by David Reutter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Suicides Plague Wisconsin Jails; Attempted Suicide Suit Settles for $13.1 Million, by Matthew Clarke
- Dr. Yank: Washington Prison Dentist Nearly Kills Patient
- Landmark Settlement Reduces SHU Time, Increases Treatment Of New York Prisoners With Mental Illness
- Maryland Restores Voting Rights to 50,000 Felons
- Missouri Legislature Allows Wrongfully Convicted to Receive Compensation
- Supreme Court: California’s Law Permitting Suspicionless Police Search of Parolees Does Not Violate Fourth Amendment, by Marvin Mentor
- Increasingly Repressive Sex Offender Residency Restrictions Have Doubtful Benefits, by John Dannenberg
- Alaska Jail Settles Alcohol Withdrawal Death Case For $573,000
- Phoenix, Arizona Sheriff’s Policy Delaying Prisoners’ Elective Abortions Enjoined, by John Dannenberg
- Colorado Successfully Pressures FBI To Release DNA Info; Racial Bias Infects DNA Databases, by Gary Hunter
- Guards Convicted of Stealing, Bringing Drugs into Washington State Private Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Disallowing Printed E-Mail Responses To Wisconsin Prisoner’s Web Page Raised Triable Issues of Fact, by John Dannenberg
- BOP Cancels Solicitation of Proposal for Single-Faith Program
- Lifetime Supervision or Lifetime Incarceration for Colorado Sex Offenders?
- Louisiana Prisoner Denied Religious Materials Under “Approved Vendor” Policy Settles Suit for $21, 786.13 in Damages and Fees
- Study: Supermax Prisons Achieve Control While Inflicting Debilitating Side Effects, But Don’t Reduce Recidivism, by John Dannenberg
- California Sheriff Criticized on Injury Non-Treatment After Use of Force
- South Carolina Prisoner Awarded $4,000 For Fall, Broken Ankle
- Human Rights Watch Urges Access to Condoms in U.S. Prisons and Jails
- $30,000 Award in Hawaii Medical Negligence Suit
- Private Prison Companies Bilk Florida Taxpayers Out of Millions, by David Reutter
- Los Angeles County Jail Visitor’s Injury After Scuffle With Deputies Settles For $150,000
- Florida Court Without Jurisdiction to Impose Confinement Condition Sanctions at Sentencing
- Excessive Force And Medical Negligence Death In Youngstown, Ohio Arrest Settles For $350,000 From Police, $100,000 From PHS, by John Dannenberg
- City of Detroit Must Record Suspect Confessions; $4 Million Wrongful Incarceration Award
- U.S. Supreme Court: State Felon’s Deportation Order Reversed Where Underlying Offense Amounted Only to Federal Misdemeanor
- $248,000 Jury Award for Inhumane D.C. Jail Conditions
- Harsh Federal Parole Conditions for Federal Sex Offender Upheld
- Fifth Circuit Remands Texas Prisoner’s Retaliation Claim, Adopts De Minimis Standard, by Michael Rigby
- Second Hawaii Sex Assault Case Settled for $25,000
- California Prison Guards Awarded $440 Million Retroactive Pay Increase
- $2.5 Million Settlement in Schenectady County Strip Search Suit
- California Governor’s Parole Veto Reversed by Federal Court, by John Dannenberg
- New York Jail’s Juvenile Education Suit Returns to District Court
- Ninth Circuit: Prisoner is Protected by Legal Privilege but Not Marriage Privilege When Writing His Lawyer-Wife
- Federal Prisoner’s Criminal Assault Conviction Reversed; Entitled to Raise Self-Defense
- Washington Indigents All Get Experts at Public Expense
- New York Prisoner Beaten By Unofficial Enforcer Awarded $500,000
- News in Brief:
- Alaska DOC Liable for Rape of Federal Prisoner by Prison Doctor
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026
- New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026
- DOJ Issues Memorandum Over BOP Employees Abusing Their Law Enforcement Credentials to Illegally Purchase Personal Firearms, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment Against Former Illinois Prison Guards Challenging Termination for Violating Use of Force Policy, Aug. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Executive Order to Transfer Trans Women Prisoners to Men’s Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026
- Idaho Supreme Court Holds Indigent Parents Have Constitutional Right to Counsel at Public Expense, July 1, 2026
- Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Capital Conviction, July 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- $4.5 Million Paid by Cook County for Detainee Suicide in Chicago Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Administrative Detention/Segregation, Deliberate Indifference.
- Death of Seattle Detainee—Jailed Despite Not Being “Grounded in Reality”—Costs King County $3.5 Million Settlement, Aug. 1, 2026. Restraints, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Monell Liability.
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- $1.2 Million for Elderly Detainee Shoved Out the Door of Sacramento Jail by Guard, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Tulsa Jail Shutting Down After Investigative Reporting on Detainee Deaths, Aug. 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Fifth Circuit Kills Louisiana Prison Medical and Mental Health Care Reform, July 1, 2026. Medical, Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Immunity/Liability, Mental Health.
- $25,000 Paid to Former New York Jail Detainee Subjected to Delayed Healthcare and Denied Mental Healthcare— Despite Seven Suicide Attempts, July 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Mental Health, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Three Women Died at a Michigan Prison in Less than a Month, July 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- After Spoliation Sanction, CoreCivic Settles Suit Over Suicide in New Mexico ICE Lockup, July 1, 2026. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Discovery, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Study Shows That Suicide Intervention During and After Incarceration Reduces Suicide Attempts by 55%, June 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Suicides, Health care.

