Inmate Suicide

In this Boston Globe article, John M. Guilfoil discusses the issue of mental health care in prisons. Much like we saw in 'The New Asylums" Frontline episode, a large number of inmates require serious medical attention for mental illness. Cuts to these 'services' (in my opinion, necessities) have seriously impacted the lives of many. Today, Michael Caputo, 59, committed suicide in his private cellat Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater. He was serving life without parole. He is the "second inmate in less than two weeks" to take his own life in a Massachusetts prison. According to Leslie Walker, executive director of Prisoners' Legal Services, "the rate of inmate suicide in Massachusetts is more than three times higher than the national average".