Dying Inside: Litigation Patterns for Deaths in Jail Custody.

Millions of dollars are spent annually in private litigation against jails. This article analyzes a novel dataset developed from dockets and reports of cases filed against jails by the estates of individuals who died in jail custody. The total amount of plaintiffs' awards represented in the sample was over $292,234,224. Cases attributing the cause of death to officer use of force had the highest average award ($2,243,079). Our findings suggest that suicide is still the most common cause of death for people in jail custody. Yet complications from a physical illness were not far behind, and nearly 20% of all cases in the sample were drug or alcohol related. In the first 24 hours of custody, people in jail were most at risk of drug-related deaths and suicide.

Fatal prescriptions: Immigration detention, mismedication, and the necropolitics of uncare.

This article focuses on detention care and its deadly consequences in the United States. Between October 2003 and October 2019, there were at least 196 deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, many the result of grossly inadequate medical practices. Drawing on the case of Juan Carlos Baires, who was denied antiretroviral medication, the essay argues that, rather than being beneficiaries of care, noncitizens in detention are often victims of uncare-of a dearth or absence of both affective (concern about) and practical (providing for) care. The consequence of this uncare is that migrant lives are imperiled to the point of death.