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Three Suicide Suits At Sacramento, California Jail Settled For $1,000,000
Loaded on Aug. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
August, 2008, page 30
For a total of $1,000,000, California officials settled the wrongful death lawsuits stemming from three prisoner suicides in the Sacramento County jail. Sacramento County Sheriff John McGuiness averred that the agreement to settle should not be construed as evidence of any wrongdoing. Rather, he called it “strictly a business decision …
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More from this issue:
- Oregon DOC Food Manager Takes Over $1 Million in Bribes, Feeds Prisoners “Distressed” Food, by Mark Wilson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- C O R R E C T I O N
- Los Angeles County Pays $40,000 Damages to Assaulted Prisoner Informant Witness
- Deal to Reconsider 1,000 Paroles Scotched When New York Governor Capitulates Over Cop Killer’s Case, by John Dannenberg
- Phoenix New Times Executives Arrested for Reporting About Sheriff Joe Arpaio, by Matthew T. Clarke
- Mississippi Jail Prisoner Wins $3,000,000 in Failure to Protect Suit
- Oklahoma Pays $844,000 for Comprehensive Performance Audit of DOC, by Matthew Clarke
- $300,000 Settlement in Murder of College Student by Released Sexual Predator
- Human Rights Watch Report: Most Sex Offender Laws Misguided and Ineffective, by Matthew Clarke
- More Prisoners Murdered in Texas Federal Prisons, by Gary Hunter
- Illinois Prisoners Win $8 Million for Failure to Treat Hep C
- Fifth Circuit: Federal Prisoner Loses Retaliation Suit but U.S. Attorney Sanctioned, by John Dannenberg
- Over $6 Million Awarded in Oakland, California Parolee’s False Arrest Suit, by John Dannenberg
- Washington Inter-Prison Property-Shipping-Fee Class Action Suit Settles For $1,262,500, by John Dannenberg
- Unlocking America, Why and How to Reduce America’s Prison Population, The JFA Institute, November 2007, 32 pp., by John Dannenberg
- Former North Carolina Lawmaker’s Son Submits Highest Bid, Gets Prison Contract, by David Reutter
- Complaint Against Utah DOC for Non-Delivery of PLN Fails Because Defendants Only Negligent; Jail Publication Ban Illegal, by John Dannenberg
- Maryland Juvenile Justice Official Resigns Over Past Abuse Allegations, by David Reutter
- Pennsylvania Prison Medical Firm’s Performance Called into Question
- $64,900 Award in Arkansas Excessive Force Claim; Warden Held Not Liable, by David Reutter
- National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to Pay for Grant Fraud
- Floor-Sleeping at Los Angeles County Jail Ruled Unconstitutional, by John Dannenberg
- Eighth Circuit: Iowa Prisoner’s Denial-Of-Court-Access Ruling Reversed
- Court Orders Attorney General to Allow Law Students Access to Political Prisoners at Federal Supermax, by Brandon Sample
- Mentally Ill Woman Sues Over Seg-Cell Sex; County Settles for $40,000
- Alabama Felon Disenfranchisement Limited
- Three Suicide Suits At Sacramento, California Jail Settled For $1,000,000
- Muslim Virginia Prisoner Entitled to 2,200 Calories During Ramadan
- Ohio DNA Specimen Law Ruled Not Retroactive
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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.

