Inmate's suicide shows need for reforms, advocates say
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The final two months of Cachin Anderson’s life in New York’s prison system were filled with warnings he was a man in crisis.
He climbed on a sink and dove headfirst at the floor, saying he “wanted to end it and go home.” He urinated on guards. He hurled a can at one corrections officer and punched another in the face, knocking him out.
That behavior landed him in solitary confinement, a setting experts say is often unsuitable for people who are mentally ill or trying to hurt themselves. And there, Anderson killed himself on June 28, 2017, a death a state oversight board later said could have been prevented.
Prisoner advocates say Anderson's death and others illustrate how New York’s prison system fails to ensure the safety of inmates who might hurt themselves if left alone in a cell.
New York state prison inmates in solitary confinement or long-term “keeplock” units, in which inmates are isolated, were over five times more likely to kill themselves than prisoners in general confinement, according to a report from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
The report said that of the 130 inmate suicides from 2004 to 2013 in New York prisons, 30 were by prisoners in solitary or isolated housing, or a special treatment program.
New York has tried to curtail the use of solitary confinement. Earlier this year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders announced a plan to restrict the isolation practice further by capping solitary confinement time to 30 days.
The state prison system has set out procedures designed to prevent suicides, too.
Correction officers watching over solitary confinement are required to make rounds every 30 minutes on an irregular basis.
Prisoners are also supposed to undergo a suicide prevention...