Inmate's suicide shows need for reforms, advocates say

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. 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.