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Abstract: 

In A.H. v. St. Louis Co., Mo, plaintiffs argued that two previous suicides in the segregation area and twenty-two attempted suicides between May 2008 and February 2013 showed that St. Louis County jail was deliberately indifferent because policy allowed inmates on precautionary status to be alone in their cells, permitted them to have bed sheets, and did not require them to be monitored more than the inmate population at large when in general housing. The 8th Circuit found, in a ruling that seems to be saying that any policy aimed at reducing suicide will likely smother any claim of municipal liability, that attempted suicides are not evidence of deliberate indifference and if anything, they show a policy was effective in avoiding the unfortunate reality of inmate or detainee suicide.

Keywords: Jail Suicide; A.H. v. St. Louis Co

Affiliations:  1: Executive Editor.