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Why Are Prisoners Committing Suicide in Pennsylvania?
Loaded on March 15, 2013
by Matt Stroud
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2013, page 18
Filed under:
Misconduct/Corruption,
Guard Misconduct,
Medical Neglect/Malpractice,
Failure to Treat (Mental Illness),
Suicides.
Location:
Pennsylvania.
By the time John McClellan, Jr. was found dead inside Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Cresson in May 2011, he had long been categorized as “special needs” for his history of addiction and mental instability. Yet prisoners and staff say McClellan, 42, was not living in one of …
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More from this issue:
- Abuse in Los Angeles Jails Leads to Investigations, Lawsuits and Eventual Reforms, by Michael Brodheim
- Colorado Seeks New Use for Empty Prison
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Nevada Prison Industries Exploiting Businesses and Workers, by Bob Sloan
- The Color of Corporate Corrections: Overrepresentation of People of Color in the Private Prison Industry, by Christopher Petrella
- British Call Center Fires Employees to Hire Prison Slave Labor
- Why Are Prisoners Committing Suicide in Pennsylvania?, by Matt Stroud
- Federal Court Grants Six-Month Extension to Reduce CDCR Prison Population
- Alaska Supreme Court Revives Prisoner’s “Shy Bladder” Suit
- Historic $45 Million Settlement in Washington State Prison Phone Class-action Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- China Pledges to Stop Harvesting Organs from Executed Prisoners
- Prison Reforms Under Maine’s New DOC Commissioner, by Lance Tapley
- Former California Prison Guard Convicted of Lying about Injury Sustained at Sex Club
- Colorado: CCA Doctor Disciplined for Role in Prisoner’s Death
- $2.6 Million Jury Award for Prisoner Beaten in Los Angeles County Detox Cell, by Matthew Clarke
- $4.1 Million Settlement for Cook County Jail Prisoners Shacked During Labor
- California Prison Psychiatrists Reap Rewards from State Bidding War
- Tennessee DOC Accused of Covering Up Violent Incidents, by Alex Friedmann
- Prison Doctor’s Failure to Follow Prescribed Hernia Treatment States Claim
- 7th Circuit Reaffirms Voluntariness of BOP’s Inmate Financial Responsibility Program, by Derek Gilna
- Second Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment for Non-Treatment of Prisoner’s HCV
- Eighth Circuit: § 1997e(e) Bars Compensatory Damages for First Amendment Religious Claims; Qualified Immunity Upheld
- DC Court Disbars Former Federal Prosecutor for Misconduct, by Derek Gilna
- Indigent Prisoner’s Damages Claim in Legal Mail Case Survives Summary Judgment
- U.S. Citizens Mistakenly Snared, Deported by DHS and ICE, by Derek Gilna
- South Carolina Sex Offender’s Lifetime Satellite Monitoring Held Unconstitutional
- “Shocks the Conscience” Test Applied to Conditions at Civil Commitment Center
- Have the Media Stopped Covering Courts?
- Unique Brazilian Prison Alternative Celebrates 40-Year Anniversary, by Lyla Bugara
- Eleventh Circuit: No Right to Spanish-language RDAP Program
- Former New York Prisoner Exonerated, Receives $2 Million Settlement
- $2 Million Settlement in Mailman’s Death at New York City Jail
- Fifth Circuit Reverses $659,300 Katrina-Related Jury Award, by Matthew Clarke
- Equitable Tolling of AEDPA Includes Non-English Speaking Petitioners
- Illinois Woman Awarded $70,000 for Strip Search Based on Canine Alert
- Oregon ACLU Sues Jail over Mail Policy; County Quickly Capitulates
- Eighth Circuit: Procedurally Defaulted Grievances Decided on Merits are Considered Exhausted
- California Governor Approved Parole for 377 Life-Sentenced Murderers in 2012, by John Dannenberg
- Eleventh Circuit: Corizon Policy Led to Prisoner’s Paralysis; $1.2 Million Verdict Upheld
- Los Angeles County Settles Civil Detainee Wrongful Death Claim for $750,000
- Eighth Circuit Upholds Child Porn Supervised Release Condition
- California Prison Town Files for Bankruptcy, by John Dannenberg
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Clarifies Sex Offender Registration for Homeless Prison Releasees
- News in Brief
More from Matt Stroud:
- Why Are Prisoners Committing Suicide in Pennsylvania?, March 15, 2013
More from these topics:
- L.A. County Begins Making Nearly $5 Billion in Payouts to Survivors of Sex Abuse in Juvenile Detention, Sept. 1, 2026. Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Settlements, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders.
- Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Obstruction of Justice.
- Mississippi DOC Held Mentally Unwell Prisoners in Solitary, Many Died Because of It, Sept. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Staff Training, Deliberate Indifference.
- $800,000 Settlement Reached in Hawai‘i Jail Suicide Case, Sept. 1, 2026. Staffing, Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- $280,000 Paid for South Carolina Detainee’s Death in Charleston Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, Contractor Liability, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Monell Liability.
- Four Massachusetts Guards Face Charges for Assault on Prisoners During Brawl, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings.
- New Commission to Investigate Death and Abuse of 230 Black Children at Segregated Maryland Reformatory, Sept. 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Juvenile Prisons.
- Last of 11 Guards Sentenced in Death of New York Prisoner, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), False Statements/Perjury, Obstruction of Justice.
- Rising Deaths in Los Angeles County Jail Linked to Longer Stays, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Drug Overdose, Statistics/Trends, Suicides, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Isolation and Medical Neglect at Illinois’ Joliet Treatment Center Drive Prisoners to Set Fatal Fires, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Security Systems, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).

