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$1 Million Settlement in Santa Clara, California Jail Suicide
Loaded on Sept. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
September, 2009, page 47
California’s Santa Clara County paid $1 million to the estate of a mentally ill prisoner who committed suicide at the Santa Clara County Jail (SCCJ). The estate’s federal civil rights complaint claimed jail officials failed to provide necessary medical treatment for the prisoner.During his years as a student at …
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More from this issue:
- Anatomy of the Modern Prisoners’ Rights Suit: A Practitioner’s Guide to Successful Jury Trials on Behalf of Prisoner-Plaintiffs*, by Alphonse A. Gerhardstein
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Innocent Georgia Man Receives $500,000 as Compensation for Rape Conviction
- Former Prisoner Convicted of Impersonating Criminal Defense Attorney
- Why False Imprisonment Recoveries Should Not Be Taxable, by Robert Wood
- Texas’ Parole Condition X Violates Due Process, by Gary Hunter
- $2.16 Million Settlement in Dauphin Pennsylvania Jail Strip Search Lawsuit
- Using Chemical Agents on Mentally Ill Prisoners Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
- Audit Finds California Prison Receiver Broke State Law by Making No-Bid Contracts with Verizon, by Michael Brodheim
- Fifth Circuit Upholds $14 Million Award Against Louisiana DA’s Office in Wrongful Conviction Suit; Affirmed by En Banc Ruling, by Matthew Clarke
- Third Circuit Upholds Pennsylvania DOC Policy Requiring Control Number for Legal Mail, by David Reutter
- Third Circuit Upholds Ban on UCC Materials; Sixth Circuit Disagrees, by Brandon Sample
- Working in Legal Field Not Prohibited While on Federal Supervised Release
- Prisoners Not Evacuated, Parolees Rounded Up as Hurricanes Hit, by Gary Hunter
- Contraband Smuggling by Texas Prison Guards Rarely Punished Harshly, by Matthew Clarke
- Oklahoma Prisoner Beaten to Death After Celled with Co-Defendant He Testified Against
- California Lifers’ New Litigation Tool: DA’s “Opinion” and Governor’s “Belief” Do Not Constitute “Evidence” in Parole Denial Cases, by Marvin Mentor
- Notice Required for Rejected Packages BOP Warden Denied Qualified Immunity, by Brandon Sample
- Organ Harvesting In China Prison Goes High Tech, by Gary Hunter
- Former Oklahoma Sheriff Convicted of Sex Crimes Now Where to Put Him?
- Federal Three-Judge Panel Orders California To Reduce Prison Population By 44,000 Prisoners Within Two Years, by Marvin Mentor
- New York’s Correction Law § 24 Held Unconstitutional by US Supreme Court, by Brandon Sample
- $25,000 Award to Utah Muslim Prisoner Attacked by Death Row Prisoner Following 9/11
- FBI And States Expand Collection Of DNA To The Innocent, by Brandon Sample
- Sheriff and Guards Indicted: Sex, Misconduct and Contraband Scandal at Texas Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Washington States Passes New Law for Automatic Restoration of Voting Rights, by Eric Nygren
- Philadelphia Tax Break for Hiring Ex-Prisoners a Bust
- U.S. Supreme Court Recedes from Saucier’s Mandatory Provisions for Determining Qualified Immunity Claims, by David Reutter
- California: Parole Board’s Policy Barring Friendly Oral Witness Testimony At Lifer Hearings Ruled An “Underground Regulation”, by Marvin Mentor
- $3.75 Million Settlement for Orange County, California, Jail Detainee Severely Beaten by Prisoners
- Violence on the Rise in Arizona Prisons, by David Reutter
- Maryland Prisoners Receive Kosher Food, by Brandon Sample
- From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King, Oakland, CA: PM Press (2009) $24.95 hardback, 217 pages, by Mel Motel
- Sixth Circuit Overturns $625,000 Verdict for Ohio Prisoner Sexually Abused by Guard, by Brandon Sample
- Oklahoma Prisoner Awarded $65,000 for Inadequate MSRA Care, by Brandon Sample
- $1 Million Settlement in Santa Clara, California Jail Suicide
- No Qualified Immunity for Guards Who Failed to Help Vomiting Prisoner Who Died
- Indigent Texas Prisoners May No Longer be Required to Repay Cost of Court-Appointed Counsel
- California Prison Still Subpar, Grand Jury Finds
- News in Brief:
- $1,000 Jury Award to Beaten Missouri Prisoner
More from these topics:
- Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, May 1, 2026. DOJ CRIPA Actions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached with South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- $2.135 Million Partial Settlement Reached in Schizophrenic Detainee’s Death from “Gross Medical Neglect” at South Carolina Jail, May 1, 2026. Prison Health Services, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- Faced with Record-Breaking Jail Deaths, L.A. County Supervisors Tell Sheriff’s Department to Improve Access to Naloxone, Camera Monitoring, and Security Checks at California Jail, May 1, 2026. Drug Overdose, Overcrowding, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Taser Use Doubled After Grand Jury Report on Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Stun Guns/Tasers, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Staff Training.
- Federal Court Places Medical Care in Arizona Prisons Under Receivership, May 1, 2026. Naphcare, Systemic Medical Neglect, Injunctions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- Nearly 50 People Have Died in ICE Custody Since Trump’s Return to White House, May 1, 2026. LaSalle Management Company, Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Suicides, Immigration Detention.
- $1.25 Million Paid for Special Needs Teen’s Fatal Beating in Houston Jail, May 1, 2026. Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Monitor Says Massachusetts Prisons Will Not Meet Settlement Deadline for Mental Health Reforms, May 1, 2026. Private Prisons, DOC/BOP misconduct, Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- $750,000 Paid by NaphCare for New York Jail Suicide, May 1, 2026. Naphcare, Jail Specific, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

