The Grits for Breakfast blog says it was incorrect in attributing an increase in deaths in the Texas prison system to health care staffing cuts. The report was included in Crime & Justice News this week. The actual reason, says the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, is a change in reporting policy. Before 2013, the state reported only unattended deaths, those that did not occur in an “inpatient setting.” When inpatient hospital deaths were included, the annual totals are fairly even.
The state now says the totals of deaths in custody in recent years are as follows: 2007 – 436, 2008 – 469, 2009 – 424, 2010 – 382, 2011 – 418, 2012 – 463, 2013 – 443, 2014 – 389 (through November). The state didn’t explain the reason for the reporting change.
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