LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Inmate Suicide
Concord, NH: (Mar-21-08) Constance Cuddemi brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Concord, alleging that her son Joseph Smith, who had been in prison on a parole violation for less than an hour, hanged himself from exposed ceiling pipes. Cuddemi stated that her son was without sufficient supervision though he was questioned about his past suicide attempts when he spent time in prison in 2001. He was sent back in 2003, and the prison officials failed to interview him about his suicidal thoughts. She said that Smith, 34, was put in the shower without any supervision, where he took his life using his shoelaces.
After her son's death, Cuddemi sued the prison with a particular demand in mind, that she wanted the prison to do a better job of assessing inmates for suicidal tendencies, as soon as they arrived. As part of a settlement reached in the case, sources said that the prison admitted no wrongdoing; it agreed to pay Cuddemi $85,000 and make the changes she wanted.
Under the terms of the deal, every new inmate is asked if he is thinking of killing himself, whether he has thought about in the past two days or has attempted to kill or harm himself in the past. The prison also went beyond those requests and made physical changes to the shower. Prison officials said that they had concealed the exposed pipes and took out a metal privacy wall, retiled the floor and walls and added a security camera. The prison also created a team that inspects the prison's facilities and housing units for safety risks. [BOSTON GLOBE: MOM WHO SUED PRISON PLEASED WITH SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS]
Published on Mar-24-08
After her son's death, Cuddemi sued the prison with a particular demand in mind, that she wanted the prison to do a better job of assessing inmates for suicidal tendencies, as soon as they arrived. As part of a settlement reached in the case, sources said that the prison admitted no wrongdoing; it agreed to pay Cuddemi $85,000 and make the changes she wanted.
Under the terms of the deal, every new inmate is asked if he is thinking of killing himself, whether he has thought about in the past two days or has attempted to kill or harm himself in the past. The prison also went beyond those requests and made physical changes to the shower. Prison officials said that they had concealed the exposed pipes and took out a metal privacy wall, retiled the floor and walls and added a security camera. The prison also created a team that inspects the prison's facilities and housing units for safety risks. [
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