Death In Custody

Razack s powerful critique of the Canadian settler state and its legal system speaks to many of today s most pressing issues of social justice."

Sudden in-custody restraint deaths have emerged as a critical and imp- tant problem for police, correctional, and medical care workers. The scope and magnitude of the problem clearly reveals that the subject matter is worthy of further consideration. Although the frequency of these deaths is very low, the criticality of its occurrence requires attention to the subject matter. The purpose of Sudden Deaths in Custody is to provide current information that addresses the issue from a number of perspectives. It is our purpose to assemble, under one title, current research that addresses the varying facets that underscore the nature of sudden in-custody deaths. The intent is to provide information that can further educate and assist those officers, adm- istrators, investigators, trainers, and medical personnel who must interact, intervene, and make decisions about how to prevent sudden in-custody deaths. Sudden Deaths in Custody specifically addresses sudden in-custody deaths that occur after a violent confrontation. Such incidents may occur after police or correction officers’ intervention, but also include incidents that may occur in a mental health facility or emergency medical field setting. The deaths described in this volume all involve sudden death within minutes or hours of contact preceded by one or more of the following: violent confrontation with police or corrections personnel, forcible control measures, and behavior inf- enced by a chemical substance, or mental impairment. Incidents involving custodial suicides, homicides, accidents, fatal pursuits, or police shootings are excluded.

Death in Custody shows that procedural justice theory is relevant for participation in processes investigating human rights violations. It includes key recommendations on how to ensure participation can be fair and effective.

An explosive behind-the-scenes look at the shameful standard of living on Palm Island, a microcosm of the worst of black-white relations in Australia, as told through the story of the death in custody of Mulrunji, and the protests and riots that followed. Australian author.

The United States significantly undercounts the number of people who die in law enforcement custody each year. How can we fix this? Deaths resulting from interactions with the US criminal legal system are a public health emergency, but the scope of this issue is intentionally ignored by the very systems that are supposed to be tracking these fatalities. We don't know how many people die in custody each year, whether in an encounter with police on the street, during transport, or while in jails, prisons, or detention centers. In order to make a real difference and address this human rights problem, researchers and policy makers need reliable data. In Death in Custody, Roger A. Mitchell Jr., MD, and Jay D. Aronson, PhD, share the stories of individuals who died in custody and chronicle the efforts of activists and journalists to uncover the true scope of deaths in custody. From Ida B. Wells's enumeration of extrajudicial lynchings more than a century ago to the Washington Post's current effort to count police shootings, the work of journalists and independent groups has always been more reliable than the state's official reports. Through historical analysis, Mitchell and Aronson demonstrate how government at all levels has intentionally avoided reporting death in custody data. Mitchell and Aronson outline a practical, achievable system for accurately recording and investigating these deaths. They argue for a straightforward public health solution: adding a simple checkbox to the US Standard Death Certificate that would create an objective way of recording whether a death occurred in custody. They also propose the development of national standards for investigating deaths in custody and the creation of independent regional and federal custodial death review panels. These tangible solutions would allow us to see the full scope of the problem and give us the chance to truly address it.

Death in Custody shows that procedural justice theory is relevant for participation in processes investigating human rights violations. It includes key recommendations on how to ensure participation can be fair and effective.

"Black deaths do not have a good press, especially when they occur in the custody of our custodians. The media leads the public to believe that our guardians can do no wrong. Racism leads them to believe that blacks can do no right. The silence of the custodial system is compounded by the silences of racism. We have chosen to break that silence." -- page 4 of the title page.