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How Privatization Destroyed an Illinois Jail's Award-winning Suicide Prevention Program
Several years ago, while working at our local Books to Prisoners, I met a volunteer who was formerly a mental health counselor in the local jail in Champaign County, Illinois. This was just after there had been three jail suicides within a six-month period in 2004. She recalled a time …
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More from this issue:
- Prison Rape Elimination Act Standards Finally in Effect, but Will They be Effective?, by Alex Friedmann
- Prisoners Raped and Sexually Abused While PREA Standards Pending
- U.S. Supreme Court Denies Stay of California Prisoner Release Order
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Employee Disciplinary Problems Persist at Houston Jails, by Matthew Clarke
- How Privatization Destroyed an Illinois Jail's Award-winning Suicide Prevention Program, by Brian Dolinar
- Missouri: Arrestees Billed for Cost of Police Tasers, by Christopher Zoukis
- High-Tech, High-Risk Forensics, by Osagie K. Obasogie
- The Americans with Disabilities Act and Prisoners, by Thomas Weiss
- Michigan County Sanctioned for Defrauding Federal Court in Prisoner Death Case, by David Reutter
- Solitary Confinement for Death Row Prisoners a Blot on U.S. Justice System, by Derek Gilna
- Oklahoma’s DNA Law Means Post-Conviction Testing Available in All 50 States, by Christopher Zoukis
- Habeas Hints: Actual Innocence, by Kent A. Russell
- Second Circuit Establishes Property Seizure Standards for Civilly Committed Persons
- 500 Escape from Abu Ghraib and Taji Prisons in Iraq, by Christopher Zoukis
- Illinois DOC’s Failure to Accommodate Disabled Prisoners States Rehabilitation Act Claim
- PLN Resolves Censorship Suit Against Oregon County Jail for $51,000 Plus Fees and Costs, by Alex Friedmann
- Seventh Circuit: Indiana Tolling Provision May Excuse Time-Barred Suit; Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissal Improper
- After Ten Years, FCC Votes for Prison Phone Reforms!, by David Ganim
- First Circuit: Rejection of Settlement Offer Does Not Justify Defendants’ Attorney Fee Award
- Pennsylvania: Parole Board May Expound on Court-ordered Probation Conditions
- Washington Community Custody, Sex Offender Registration and Release Conditions Modified
- Seventh Circuit Retires “De Minimis” Standard for Use of Physical Force
- New Mexico Prison Doctor Fingered in Lawsuits
- Minnesota: Remedies for Civil Commitments are Limited
- Qualified Immunity for NY Prison Officials who Failed to Award Parole Jail Time
- Wrongful Immigration Detention Suit Reinstated by Second Circuit, Dismissed on Remand, by Derek Gilna
- California Supreme Court: Cutting Through Fences May Not Constitute Attempt to Escape
- Ninth Circuit Requires Notice to Pro Se Prisoner Litigants for Motions to Dismiss for Failure to Exhaust
- Seventh Circuit Upholds CCA’s Victory in Indiana Jail Conditions Suit
- California: Victim’s Post-Death Economic Losses Not Subject to Mandatory Restitution
- Second Circuit: No Social Security Payments for Prisoners
- News in Brief
More from Brian Dolinar:
- Cages Without Bars Are Widening the Net: The Explosion of Electronic Monitoring, Jan. 1, 2023
- Prison Profiteer Is Using Sandra Bland’s Death to Sell Surveillance Technology, Sept. 30, 2022
- Louisiana Prisoners Used as Slave Labor During Hurricane Ida, Families Left in the Dark for Weeks, Nov. 1, 2021
- Eleven Guards Fired after Death at Houston Jail, Nov. 1, 2021
- Hunger Strike, Ceiling Collapse, Lawsuit Spotlight Deteriorating Conditions at Women’s Prison in Illinois, Oct. 1, 2021
- Prioritizing Incarcerated People for Vaccine Quickly Reduced COVID in IL Prisons, June 1, 2021
- New Surge of COVID Is Spreading “Like Wildfire” in Illinois Prisons, March 1, 2021
- Illinois Prison Phone Rates are Lowest Following Grassroots Activism, Aug. 6, 2019
- Profiting Off Mass Incarceration: Detroit Pistons Owner Buys Private Prison Phone Company, Oct. 10, 2017
- With General Inch in Charge, We Can Expect Further Militarization of the Prison System, Aug. 30, 2017
More from these topics:
- 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.
- 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.
- $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.
- 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.
- $3.25 Million Verdict in New York Against Jail Medical Profiteer Armor Health, July 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Misconduct/Corruption, Medical, Conditions of Confinement, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions.
- 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.
- Over $2 Million Paid by Otero County and VitalCore Health Strategies for New Mexico Jail Suicide, June 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides, Immunity - Sovereign/Municipal, Deliberate Indifference.
- $5 Million Paid by Colorado County for Jail Detainee’s “Gruesome” Death from Untreated Ulcer; Claims Proceeding Against Southern Health Partners, June 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.

