Early in July, the Salem Statesman Journal ran a series of investigative stories about suicides in Oregon's prisons [0]. The paper also published an editorial, More Changes Needed to Curb Prison Suicides [1], encouraging the Oregon Department of Corrections to do more to protect prisoners.
Last week Nathan Bashaw killed himself at Snake River Correctional Institution. He was twenty-one years old and the fourth person to commit suicide in Oregon's prisons this year. Twenty-six people have killed themselves in Oregon’s prisons in ten years.
This most recent suicide generated a strongly worded response from the Statesman Journal, Prisoner Safety Must Be Made a Priority [2], questioning the DOC's commitment to change and encouraging the agency to prioritize prisoners' safety.
This news brief is based on stories and editorials from the Salem Statesman Journal, Prison Inmate Hangs Self in Psychiatric Unit [3], More Changes Needed to Curb Prison Suicides [4], and Prisoner Safety Must Be Made a Priority [5].
The original Salem Statesman Journal series included the following articles:
- Prison Suicides Linked to Isolation [6]
- "Supermax" Suicides Put Vigilance at Issue [7]
- Prison Officials Consider Several Methods to Curb Suicides [8]