California’s prison system has been plagued by inmate suicides for years, a problem so persistent that a Sacramento federal judge has required regular reports on the deaths of every inmate who ends their own life and a review of how it happened.
This week, a reminder of the scope of the problem was served up in federal court, when the state agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of Robert St. Jovite, a prisoner who hanged himself with a bed sheet nearly a decade ago.
Sacramento Bee, 10/24/15. Here is the video story.