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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:
- 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.
- Hospital Keeps Sending Detainees Back Without Care to County Jail in Colorado, May 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference.
- Pregnant Women Detained in Jail: The Hideous Story of In-Custody Births, May 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, OB/GYN, Failure to Treat, Jail Specific, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- $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.
- Idaho DOC Director Denies Verified Report of Rampant Sexual Abuse of Women Prisoners by Staff, May 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Retaliatory Segregation, Prison Rape Elimination Act.
- “Like the Walking Dead”: Smuggled Drugs Fuel Chaos Inside Ohio Prisons, May 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Drug Overdose, Security Systems, Drugs - Determination of.
- NaphCare Pays $875,000 to Settle New York License Violations, Banned from State for Five Years, May 1, 2026. Naphcare, Contractor Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- $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.

