Rise in Suicide Attempts in Texas Prisons Alarms Advocates

Rise in Suicide Attempts in Texas Prisons Alarms Advocates

Posted on April 12, 2019

Reports that suicides in Texas prisons hit a 10-year high of 40 in 2018, and a steady rise in suicide attempts in these state-run facilities alarms prisoner rights advocates. The number of suicide attempts among Texas inmates logged by authorities has nearly tripled in the last decade, climbing from less than 700 in 2009 to nearly 2,000 in 2018 even as the number of people imprisoned in the state has fallen by 10,000, according to documents The Associated Press obtained from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice last month through a public records request.