U.S. District Court: SUICIDE MEDICAL CARE.

• Position: Brief Article

Thornhill v. Breazeale, 88 F.Supp.2d 647 (S.D.Miss. 2000). Survivors of a pretrial detainee who committed suicide while in custody brought a [sections] 1983 and wrongful death action. The district court held that a sheriff and deputy did not act with deliberate indifference by placing the detainee in a cell with a non-breakaway shower rod and neglecting to remove his shoes. But the court denied summary judgment on the issue of whether the jail's lack of a written policy for suicide prevention was reasonably related to a legitimate governmental interest. The plaintiffs challenged the lack of a policy relating to the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to detainees who attempt suicide, and the lack of a written policy for detection and prevention of suicide. The detainee was jailed awaiting trial for allegedly raping his estranged wife. The sheriff and his staff were aware of the detainee's troubled mental history and that he had threatened suicide on two prior occasions. He was initially plac ed in the jail's mental holding cell where he was isolated from other inmates. He was placed on suicide watch which, according to an unwritten...