Look at this, people with knowledge going against the low brow CT narrative. Shocker. What would scholars know? lol
Epstein’s Death Has a Simpler Explanation
Baseless speculation abounded after the accused sex trafficker died, but criminal-justice scholars point instead to a broader suicide problem.
Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old African-American woman, was driving to a new job in Texas in July 2015 when a state trooper pulled her over for failing to signal a lane change. Incredibly, the trooper transported Bland to the Waller County Jail. Three days later, a jail officer found her hanging from a plastic garbage can liner tied to a post in her cell. She had not been seen by any jail staff for over 90 minutes.
Both cases led to a nationwide furor, as incredulous commentators searched for explanations. On social media Saturday, many people speculated, without evidence, about who besides Epstein might be responsible for his death. Tellingly, many criminal-justice experts pointed instead to a broader problem: Suicide has been a lingering problem in detention facilities, and systemic factors—such as inattention, understaffing, or inadequate training—generally offer a simpler explanation for a prisoner’s death than nefarious intent.
The New York Times and other outlets have reported that Epstein had attempted suicide a few weeks earlier on July 23 but had been taken off suicide watch at the time of his death. The MCC is administered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Attorney General William Barr has ordered an investigation, declaring in a press release that he “was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody. Mr. Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered.”
In Bland’s case, subsequent investigations found numerous deficiencies at the jail that not only included lapses in observation, but inadequate intake screening. Her death did not go unnoticed. In 2017, Texas enacted the Sandra Bland Act, which mandated that county jails develop better intake screening processes, as well as divert individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues toward treatment options. The legislation eased bail conditions for defendants with mental illnesses or intellectual disabilities and required that independent law enforcement agencies better investigate jail deaths.
Hundreds of individuals are thought to commit suicide each year in jails throughout the country, and suicide is still thought to be the leading cause of death in such facilities. Why such uncertainty? The U.S. Justice Department’s reporting program for deaths in correctional institutions has not released any data since 2016. The program was first established in 1990 to require the Justice Department to collect data on all deaths in custody from state and local authorities. As last reported in 2016, there were 372 suicides in local jails throughout the United States during 2014, resulting in a suicide rate of 50 deaths per 100,000 inmates. In state and federal prisons, 249 inmates committed suicide during 2014, resulting in a suicide rate of 20 deaths per 100,000 inmates.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a...y-epstein-part-larger-suicide-problem/595918/