NCJ Number
135575
Date Published
1989
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This chapter provides information forensic psychiatrists should know to be qualified expert witnesses in litigation that involves an inmate suicide.
Abstract
In such litigation, the forensic psychiatrist may be called as an expert witness to render an opinion on whether appropriate standards of care were followed or whether wanton and negligent violations of those standards by the holding agency were committed. In a pre-existent litigation against the jail or prison arising out of a class action lawsuit, a psychiatrist may be asked to be an assistant to the compliance officer to ensure that court-mandated changes in the correctional setting are implemented and have not been violated. To be effective in such situations requires that a psychiatrist have knowledge about relevant law and state-of-the-art correctional standards for the assessment of inmate suicide potential and preventive measures. This chapter provides an overview of such information, including relevant case law that has been decided on the basis of both State law that involves the legal concept of negligence and Federal law that concerns constitutional rights. The chapter includes case histories of inmate suicides and an identification of the factors common to all the cases. A forensic psychiatrist who testifies in inmate-suicide litigation must be familiar with the dynamics of such suicides and the standards jails and prisons must implement to prevent them. 31 references